PT Badak and workers agree to settle disputes

The labor union of East Kalimantan-based LNG producer PT Badak NGL and the company's management have agreed to settle their disputes and to return to a negotiation table, Kaltim Post reported on Friday.

PT Badak's General Support Management Manager, K. Tatang said in Bontang on Thursday that the company's labor union FBLB had cancelled their strike plan, scheduled for Thursday, after the management agreed to further discuss the workers' demand.

Tatang said that had the workers carried out their strike plan, the impact on the operation of the company would have been severe. "Now, with the withdrawal of the workers' boycott threat, the management is sure that all the export commitment could be fulfilled," he said.

The workers' union has threatened to stage a general strike if their demands to get a 60 percent pay increase and to improve the status of contract workers were not met.

Tatang also unveiled the appointment of Wahyudi Suhartono as the new president director of the company, replacing Herry Purnomo who had been promoted as Pertamina's director for downstream operation. (*)