Caltex closes offices as labor protest continues

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Riau, Pekanbaru

Thousands of PT Tripatra workers were still blocking main roads to PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) offices in Rumbai and Duri, prompting the management of CPI to declare a holiday for its employees.

"This is just a precautionary measure in anticipation of an unresolved lay-off dispute between PT Tripatra and its employees," CPI external assistant manager Poedyo Oetomo told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday.

PT Tripatra is one of CPI's contractors.

The management of Tripatra, meanwhile, continued to hold meetings with labor leaders on Wednesday, but no agreement was reached.

Tripatra workers from Petapahan and Libo continued to flock to either Rumbai or Duri, blocking all roads to CPI offices and preventing CPI employees and other partners from entering the offices. They also took control of a number of trucks, which they used to block the roads.

"We will not leave this place until our future is resolved," workers' spokesman Syariadi told The Jakarta Post.

Poedyo admitted that the workers controlled a CPI truck unit in Duri, but stressed that vital installations, such as oil fields, had not been affected.

"Oil extraction is still going on as normal. Only employees at the Rumbai and Duri offices have been prevented from reporting to work by protesting workers," he said.

Poedyo said CPI's performance would not be affected, even if its two offices -- at Rumbai and Duri -- were temporarily closed.

CPI has 650 employees at its Rumbai office and about 350 at Duri.

Close to 4,000 workers of PT Tripatra engineers and contractors in Rumbai and Minas have been staging a protest in front of the CPI offices at Rumbai, Pekanbaru, and Duri, some 150 kilometers north of Pekanbaru, since Monday.

They are demanding that CPI take responsibility for the future of some 3,700 workers PT Triparta, planned to be laid off due to a decrease in construction orders from Caltex.

Tripatra has offered a voluntary severance scheme for affected workers, under which they would receive up to Rp 27 million each. The workers, however, rejected the scheme, arguing that the amount on offer was too small.

They alleged that other contractors that had experienced similar circumstances had offered up to Rp 100 million to laid- off workers.

The workers demanded that the U.S. oil company be held responsible for their fate.

The police have deployed dozens of personnel at both offices, putting vital installations under full police guard.

"All roads leading to the CPI offices and housing complex are closed to the general public," Poedyo said.