150 union activists protest Caltex Indonesia operations
150 union activists protest Caltex Indonesia operations
NEW YORK (Dow Jones): About 150 union activists protested
Friday at the Washington office of Texaco Inc. against alleged
labor and human rights violations at an Indonesian oil facility
owned by Texaco and Chevron Corp., according to the International
Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions.
The activists claimed that a contractor working for Texaco and
Chevron has harassed striking oil workers at the Indonesia
facility, and brought in security forces that have used violence
against them.
"The Indonesian government has the responsibility to ensure
that the workers' rights are respected, and Chevron and Texaco
have the obligation to ensure that subcontractors at their
facilities abide by international labor standards," said John J.
Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, which co-sponsored Friday's
protest along with the ICEM.
"We call on Chevron and Texaco to use their considerable power
and influence to insist that these workers are treated fairly and
justly," said Robert Wages, executive vice president of the
Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International
Union, which represents workers employed at Chevron and Texaco
facilities in the U.S.
Paul Weeditz, a spokesman for Texaco, responded that "we have
and will continue to abide by all Indonesian labor laws" and the
company requires that its contractors do the same.
Both Texaco and Chevron said the dispute is between one of
their subcontractors and its employees.
The strike action is taking place at an oil facility owned by
Caltex Pacific Indonesia in Sumatra, Indonesia. The workers are
employed by a Caltex subcontractor, PT Tripatra. The unions say
the strikers number about 8,000, but the oil companies say they
number about 2,000.
The workers claim Tripatra violated Indonesian labor law when
it refused to make some workers permanent employees and pay them
accordingly, according to the unions' press release.
When the company refused to follow a May directive from the
Indonesian Ministry of Manpower, the workers went on strike on
June 21, according to the release.
PT Tripatra then fired the strikers on July 6 and has been
using the Indonesian army and police to intimidate and harass the
strikers, the unions said. They added that, on July 23, the
security forces fired rubber bullets at the strikers, shooting
one in the head, and assaulted several others.
But Weeditz says the dispute revolves around severance pay and
a contract that was renewed last October. He said no employees
have been prevented from working and that 80 percent of Tripatra
employees working for Caltex are on the job.