'RCTI' editorial staff cancels planned strike

'RCTI' editorial staff cancels planned strike

JAKARTA (JP): About 41 journalists from the editorial
department of private television station RCTI canceled a planned
strike on Wednesday after reaching an agreement with the
station's management to set up a board of editors.

The employees' spokesman, Ray Wijaya, said the editorial board
would take over the duties of current chief editor Chrys Kelana
and his two deputies, Desi Anwar and Adolf Posuma.

"Members of the editorial board have not yet been decided.
They will be elected by all employees," Ray said after meeting
with the management.

He said the fate of the three current editors -- Chrys, Desi
and Adolf -- on the new editorial board would also be totally
dependent upon the wishes of employees.

Ray said the elected members would serve on the board for only
about three months, until a new editorial department structure
was formed based on the recommendations of an independent
consultant.

However, several of the protesting journalists appeared
dissatisfied with the agreement.

They were worried that the three editors would be reelected in
the vote.

They also questioned the independence of the consultants, U.S-
affiliated consultancy Daya Dimensi Indonesia, as it was
appointed by the management.

The dispute started when employees submitted to the management
on June 7 a no-confidence petition against the three editors.

Receiving no reply, the employees repeated their demands on
July 20, threatening to go on strike if they were not answered.

The employees demanded that Chrys, Adolf and Desi quit, saying
the three were incapable of doing their jobs.

"We urge the management to audit the editors since we view
them to be incapable of creating a conducive working environment.
The editors are thought to be incapable of leading an independent
and ethical editorial department," the employees said.

RCTI's acting president, Harry Kuntoro, said on Wednesday that
the work of all the 267 employees of the editorial department,
including the editors and the protesting journalists, would be
audited by consultants from Daya Dimensi Indonesia.

"We will decide whether to reduce the number of employees or
to add employees depending on the assessment of the consultants,"
Harry said.

He said the dispute was due to an accumulation of problems
that were not previously settled, causing dissatisfaction among
the employees.

Saying he was not taking any side in the dispute, Harry said
the performance of the editorial department was still good based
on the ratings its news programs gained.

"And independence has been our commitment since I was
installed," he added.

Separately, Desi acknowledged that the editorial department
could not be fully independent, especially in the New Order era.

"We could not be 100 percent independent. We should consider
who owns the station ... who owns the shares," Desi said on
Wednesday, referring to the relatives of former president
Soeharto.

She said she resigned as deputy chief editor one day after the
first petition was submitted by journalists.

"I'm now just doing my functional duties as a presenter and a
producer."

RCTI is a subsidiary of PT Bimantara Citra, a holding company
formerly controlled by Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo.

In May, the station shocked many by replacing its entire board
of directors.

Harry, an executive at Bimantara and Nenny Soemawinata, former
general manager of private television station ANteve, were then
installed as RCTI's president and director respectively. (jun)