Seamen protest union executives

Seamen protest union executives

JAKARTA: About 20 seamen demonstrated at the Ministry of
Manpower on Monday, demanding their association's executives
stand down.

The seamen urged Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris to help them
handle numerous problems in their organization.

Henky Ticonuwu, representing the protesters, said the
association's current executives should be replaced because their
appointment did not comply with the conditions required by their
organization's statutes.

"What's more, the executives have not been transparent in
using funds collected from all members," he said. More than
600,000 seamen are members of the Association of Indonesian
Seamen.

The seamen also questioned the recent spending of Rp 5 billion
(US$450,000) to purchase of a plot of land in Bekasi, West Java.

"We have never been informed about the land purchase," he
said.

Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards
Mohammad Syaufii, who received the protesters, asked them to
solve all their problems using the organization's internal
mechanisms.

"We cannot intervene in the association's internal matters,"
he said. However, "those opposing the current executives can set
up their own union and can trace where their money went." (rms)