PLN ensures restructuring will not affect workers

The management of the state owned electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has assured that its on-going restructuring program will not affect its workers, Neraca daily reported on Tuesday.

The "no-lay off" commitment was disclosed by the company's public relation officer Harris during a meeting with members of a communication forum consisting of sons and daughters of active and retired PLN employees at the company's headquarters in Jakarta on Monday.

In the meeting, Harris assured that the management would not carry out any lay-off measures in the on-going restructuring program because the number of the existing employees was still not too big for the company.

But he said that a number of structural changes in the company's organization such as employee rotation and replacement could not be avoided in a bid to improve efficiency in the operation of he debt laden company.

The forum's members demanded the company's management not to carry out a lay-off in its restructuring program. The protests was also joined by a group, which called itself as the victims of PT Timah's lay-off measures.

The later group demanded the replacement of PLN president Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who carried out a massive layoff program when he was appointed as the president of PT Timah in early 1990s.

Under the restructuring program in PLN, Kuntoro would reduce the number of the employees to between 300 and 400 and moved the others to the electricity company's subsidiaries. (*)