Labour Union Warns of Mass Layoffs as Industrial Gas Prices Soar
The threat of layoffs recently emerging in the automotive industry is not the only problem haunting the national manufacturing sector. In a meeting with parliamentary leaders, the Vice Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, received reports that tens of thousands of workers in the ceramics industry could lose their jobs due to soaring industrial gas prices.
Andi Gani Nena Wea, President of the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers’ Unions (KSPSI), revealed that the spike in industrial gas prices is making it difficult for several factories to maintain operations. This situation could potentially lead to production shutdowns and large-scale workforce reductions.
“Within the next week, a maximum of ten days, 55,000 people will be laid off. This is a concern for all of us because of industrial gas,” Andi Gani said during the KSPI National Working Meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday (23/6/2026).
He stated that the threat particularly looms over workers in the ceramics industry, including those employed at Milenium Keramik and Mulia Keramik. If the gas price issue is not resolved quickly, Andi Gani fears the effects will spread to other manufacturing sectors.
“This is a tragedy for all of us, which is why I am asking Bang Dasco to find a quick solution to the industrial gas problem, because the gas price has jumped from 6 dollars to 23 dollars AS per day,” he said.
Andi Gani stressed that the pressure currently faced by the industry cannot be considered an ordinary problem. The surge in energy costs has eroded companies’ ability to maintain normal production levels. “This is very frightening. Soon the textile industry will follow; basically, any industry that uses industrial gas will be heavily affected,” he said.
He explained that the recent increase in industrial gas prices is linked to global geopolitical turmoil. As energy costs soar, companies face increasingly high production burdens. Under such conditions, the remaining options are to reduce production capacity or even cease operations entirely. “When employers can no longer afford industrial gas, production stops. When production stops, it inevitably impacts the workers,” Andi Gani concluded.