Thousands of Tripatra workers in Riau end strike

At least 2,400 workers of PT Tripatra, the main manpower supplier of the Riau-based PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI), finally agreed to end their strike on Friday after the oil company agreed to meet their demand to upgrade their employment status, Media Indonesia reported on Saturday.

The workers mostly employed to carry out exploration and production activities in Caltex?s oil wells in the province went strike on Thursday demanding the oil company to upgrade their employment status. They ended their strike at dawn on Friday after Caltex agreed to meet their demand.

In a negotiation with representatives of the workers, Caltex agreed to appoint the workers as its employees as long as they meet the requirements.

Caltex, like other oil companies in the country, outsource their manpower for hard labor activities from local manpower suppliers. The workers, which are hired by Tripatra to carry out Caltex?s exploration and production activities, questioned why they were registered as Tripatra workers while in the reality they worked for Caltex. Such status has prevented them from obtaining the employment benefits provided by Caltex to its permanent workers. (*)