'RCTI' journalists plan strike
'RCTI' journalists plan strike
JAKARTA (JP): At least 41 employees of the editorial
department of private television station RCTI threatened to go on
strike on Wednesday if the department's three head editors did
not resign, the employees said in a statement on Monday.
The employees demanded that Chrys Kelana, the chief editor,
and Adolf Posuma and Desi Anwar, both deputy chief editors, quit
as they believed the three were incapable.
"We urge the management to audit the editors since we view
them to be incapable of creating a conducive working environment.
The editors are feared to be incapable of leading an independent
and ethical editorial department," the statement said as quoted
by Antara.
According to the statement, the dispute started when the
employees submitted to management on June 7 a no-confidence
petition against the three.
Receiving no reply, the employees repeated their demands on
July 20, threatening to go on strike if they were not answered.
One of the employees, M. Iskandar, asked RCTI's acting
president, Harry Kuntoro, to pay attention to the petition.
Iskandar said he deplored the "telephone terrorizing"
conducted against families of the employees who submitted the
petition.
"The terrorizing must stop. The management should discuss the
matter in a better way, since the petition was made according to
the rules and in an ethical way," he said.
RCTI spokesman Eduard Depari confirmed that the 41 employees,
including reporters and cameramen, had submitted the petition.
"We are still discussing their demands internally," Eduard
told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Eduard expressed regret over the journalists' plan to strike,
saying it was an internal matter.
"The protesting staff should not gain sympathy from the public
since it is an internal matter. Their action could become
counterproductive," he said.
He denied allegations that a certain group was trying to
control the policy in the editorial department. "The public still
watch our news. You can judge for yourself," he said.
On July 13, 13 employees of the station filed a lawsuit
against the management at the West Jakarta District Court,
demanding Rp 13 billion (US$1.9 million) in compensation for
allegedly preventing the establishment of a workers' union.
In May, the station shocked many by replacing the entire board
of directors.
Harry, an executive at PT Bimantara Citra, the station's
holding company, and Nenny Soemawinata, former general manager of
private television station ANteve, were then installed as RCTI's
president and director respectively. (jun)