Telkom employees stage protest

YOGYAKARTA: Over 500 employees of the Regional Division Office (Divre) IV of state telecommunications company PT Telkom staged a rally at their office on Tuesday, protesting the company's takeover by PT Indosat.

Hitherto, the division office oversaw the company's operations in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces.

The protesters, grouped under the Telkom Workers Union (Sekar Telkom), demanded the annulment of the sale.

"We will stage more protests until the acquisition is canceled," group coordinator Bambang Subagyo said.

The rally was the second after the April 23 protest.

The protesters also insisted that they be re-employed by Telkom and that nobody be dismissed in connection with the takeover.

It was feared that the new management would lay off some employees or accelerate their retirement, Bambang said.

In a bid to seek a better solution, Bambang said they would raise the case in a meeting with Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri scheduled for May 10, 2001.

During the peaceful rally which lasted two hours, the protesters burned an effigy which symbolized the new investor. (23)