Vico refuses raising former workers? severance pay despite pressures from E. Kalimantan councilors

The management of oil and gas producer PT Vico Indonesia made clear on Monday that it would not increase the amounts of severance pay for more than 100 former workers from East Kalimantan as demanded by the people, local daily Kaltim Post reported.

Vico Indonesia?s senior manager for general affairs, Syaiful Rahman, said that 90 people had received separation pay according to existing government regulations. Some of them had asked for early retirement, and the amounts they received had been based on existing regulations.

On Monday, Syaiful attended a meeting with representatives of the former employees of Vico and members of the East Kalimantan provincial council (DPRD). In that meeting, council members urged VICO to meet the former workers? demand.

Earlier reports said that Vico had laid off about 400 workers since 2000. Of them, 90 demanded higher severance pay from the company arguing that the compensation money they received was below the amount stipulated in 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. (*)