Balongan refinery workers' strike continue

The contract workers of the Balongan refinery in Indramayu, West Java owned by state oil and gas company Pertamina continue strike on Wednesday demanding a raise, Republika daily reported.

However, production at the refinery continues normally, the paper said, adding the number of strikers had increased to 1,000.

The contract workers pressured the refinery's management to raise their salary immediately, accusing the management of trying to delay the raise by asking the workers to give it time to study their demand and comparing it with the remuneration levels in other companies.

"The government has announced salary increases for governmental officials and military members starting April. Why is the management of Balongan refinery not able to take a policy more quickly? Furthermore, the raise that we demand is not too high," the workers said.

The workers demand their salaries be raised by 150 percent. Currently, they receive between Rp 290,000 and Rp 450,000 per month.

Refinery spokesman Suwandi said the salaries accepted by the workers were above the minimum salary level of Rp 240,000 set by the government for Indramayu area, adding that the raise demanded by the workers was too high.

Suwandi said production at the refinery continued normally since the workers mostly did not work in the technology section. He noted however the strike had affected working environment in the refinery. (*)