Workers of PTBA go on strike, demanding higher pay

Over 150 workers of the state owned coal producer PT Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) went on strike at the company's headquarter in Tanjungenim, South Sumatera on Wednesday, demanding a rise in salaries and an improvement in welfare and travel allowances.

The workers, who represented all the company's operation units, also demanded the company's executives to settle the alleged Rp 37.5 billion corruption committed by some members of the company's senior officials.

The demonstration, which started early in the morning, ended in the afternoon after they met the company's management board lead by the company's president R, Sunardi. But the workers pledged to continue their protests because the meeting produced no concrete results for them,

The workers complained that the current wages structures were no longer adequate to support their daily lives. The difference in the allowance given to senior officials and their staff had also become one of the targets of their protests.

Workers' protests have hit a number of mining operations in the country, especially in the natural resources-riched Kalimantan. Most people demand an improvement in their wages and working condition. (*)