KAI workers want Berto axed
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
More than 500 workers of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) marched to the state railway company's headquarters in the West Java capital of Bandung in yet another move to pressure the newly installed president director to resign.
The protest, also involving representatives of their colleagues from other Java and Sumatra provinces, came as the company's board of directors and heads of regional railway stations held a two-day working meeting in the same office.
The workers demanded that KAI president director Omar Berto, who was sworn in on Feb. 13, quit the post, citing that he was unsuitable to lead the company.
Amin Abdurachman, secretary-general of the Railway Trade Union (SPKA), said Berto was a member of the previous board of directors, who had all resigned in recognition of their moral responsibility for December's fatal head-on collision that killed at least 30 people in Brebes, Central Java.
He had played a role in contributing to the company's mismanagement and was blamed for many rail crashes, Amin said.
Last month, KAI employees threatened to boycott the operations of some business- and executive-class trains serving the Jakarta- Java route if the government retained Berto in his current post.
But they later canceled the threat and instead met leaders of relevant agencies to air their grievances and demands.
"We have gently made known our objections, through audiences with the minister of state enterprises and the House of Representatives Commission V. The commissioners have also signaled that Berto should resign. But, until now, nothing has changed," Amin told the demonstrators on Tuesday.
"We are tired and frustrated. The government appears not to be listening to the workers' aspirations," he added.
The four-hour protest ended at 12 a.m. Amin claimed the demonstrators represented 34,000 workers from the company across Indonesia, all opposed to Berto.
He vowed to continue protesting until the president director was fired.
"If Omar Berto is not replaced, make sure that a strike occurs," read one banner carried by the protesters.
"Friends should believe that demonstrations and strikes are the best way now to force the government to heed our aspirations," said Slamet, a representative from Operational Region V in Purwokerto, Central Java.
Amin said that when Berto served as the company's business development director, he failed to put in a good performance.
In a response to the rising pressures against him, Berto said, "Please go ahead with the demonstrations. It's not a problem because I am still entrusted by the board of commissioners to run this company. I will continue".