E. Kalimantan council to request parliament to resolve labor dispute at Vico

East Kalimantan provincial council has planned to ask the House of Representatives (DPR) to help resolve dispute between former workers of oil and gas producer PT Vico Indonesia and the company management, local daily Kaltim Post reported.

Councilor Ridwan Suwidi was quoted as saying that the company management had ignored its summons to attend meetings with its former workers who demanded a rise in separation pay.

?From the time the council?s Commission E began to handle the dispute, we have issued seven summons to Vico. But, they ignored them,? said Suwidi, a member of the commission.

The council was also preparing a legal action against Vico for same reason, the councilor said.

Suwidi said Vico was obliged to pay a total of Rp40 billion (US$=Rp8,870) to 400 workers it had discharged since 2000, whereas in fact the amount received by the people had been less than Rp40 billion, which was against existing laws and regulations. .

Meanwhile, Vico?s officials said earlier that the amounts received by the workers were in accordance with existing labor regulations.

Vico, partly owned by BP Plc, produces oil and gas in its Bontang fields in East Kalimantan. Its gas goes to Badak NGL?s liquefied natural gas plant in Bontang. (*)