Govt asks Garuda workers to stay calm

JAKARTA: State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto called on national flag carrier Garuda's cabin attendants not to go on strike, saying their demands were being negotiated.

Sugiharto said the Garuda management had reported the planned strike to him, but asserted that the government, the major shareholder of the company, would not intervene in the dispute.

"It's their internal problem. In fact, this industrial dispute is still being discussed by the cabin crew association, Garuda and the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration in tripartite negotiations. They are supposed to wait for the result of these negotiations," he said.

More than 2,300 Garuda cabin attendants have threatened to walk off the job from Aug. 12 to Aug. 14, demanding a salary hike and other benefits.

The Association of Garuda Cabin Attendants (Ikagi) said the planned strike was sparked by the Garuda management, which it said had ignored the employees' demands. It claimed that the management had discriminated against the cabin crew after it recently gave pilots and copilots better remuneration packages. -- JP