Telkom workers strike against transfer plan

Telkom workers strike against transfer plan

The Jakarta Post, Semarang and Yogyakarta

More than 3,000 workers of state-owned telecommunications firm
PT Telkom Tbk in Central Java and Yogyakarta staged a strike on
Monday in their latest bid to foil the deal to transfer the unit
to another state-owned telecommunications firm, PT Indosat.

During the strike, all of the workers came to work as usual,
but only held prayers during working hours.

Spokesman for the workers's union M. Prayitno said in the
Central Java capital of Semarang that the workers would continue
the strike until Thursday, which is the deadline for Telkom and
Indosat to decide whether to go ahead with the deal.

Should both companies decide to press ahead, the workers
would continue their protest with other actions, including
resignation, he said.

"Basically, if our demands are rejected, all workers in
Regional Division (Divre) IV have decided to resign rather than
work with Indosat," he told reporters during the strike.

Divre IV covers Telkom's operations in both provinces.

Telkom and Indosat agreed in May last year to swap assets in a
bid to end cross-ownership of the country's telecommunications
industry.

Under the plan, Telkom will sell Divre IV to Indosat to allow
the latter to enter the fixed line telephone business to
complement its international call business. At the same time,
Telkom will acquire Indosat's 35 percent share in the country's
largest cellular phone provider, PT Telkomsel.

The government hopes the deal will strengthen the two
companies' performances in anticipation of liberalization of the
sector in 2003.

But the Divre IV workers, who fear the loss of their jobs
under Indosat, accused Indosat of planning to sell Divre IV to
foreign investors. They have threatened to burn all Telkom's
assets in Divre IV once Indosat takes over the unit.

Prayitno said he apologized to Telkom customers for any
disruption caused by the strike, adding that the service in both
provinces remained normal, except for the service to connect new
lines and repair lines.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Protection and Supervision Foundation
(LP2K) threatened to file a class action against Telkom should
the strike inflict losses on consumers.

"The strike is their internal problem, but it doesn't mean
they should ignore the interests of consumers," Ngargono, the
LP2K executive secretary, told The Jakarta Post.