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14 July, 2005ICEM News Release No. 45/1999
Eight thousand Indonesian oil rig workers ended a six-week strike on August 7, after winning many of their demands.
The strikers are members of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI). They are employed in central Sumatra by PT Tripatra, a contractor for Caltex Petroleum, which is a joint venture between oil giants Chevron and Texaco.
The workers had gone on strike on June 21, following PT Tripatra's failure to follow an Indonesian Ministry of Manpower directive to pay the workers compensation and make them permanent employees. PT Tripatra responded by firing all the strikers on July 6 and using the Indonesian security forces to harass and intimidate the strikers. In a July 23 incident, the security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd of strikers, shooting one in the head, and assaulting several others.
The SBSI took its case to the Indonesian parliament, the National Commission on Human Rights and the US embassy in Jakarta on July 29, decrying the company's actions and its use of the Indonesian military to try to break the strike.
The 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) mobilised protests by its oil worker affiliates around the world. Among those who took action were two ICEM Vice Presidents - Robert Wages of the US union PACE and Fred Higgs of the British TGWU - who immediately lodged protests with Chevron and Texaco. In addition, the ICEM and the the US labour federation AFL-CIO organised a demonstration of 150 people at Texaco's Washington offices. This drew media attention both in the USA and in Indonesia.
As a result of the pressure in Indonesia and internationally, Caltex and PT Tripatra did an about-face. In an August 6 settlement mediated by a committee of the Indonesian parliament, the union agreed to end the strike and the company agreed to reinstate all the strikers. Although the workers did not win the severance payment they wanted, PT Tripatra did agree that when its five-year contract with Caltex expires in 2003, the workers will have permanent status and will receive the full compensation under the law.
Muchtar Pakpahan, General Chairman of the SBSI, today thanked the ICEM, the AFL-CIO and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity for their efforts in support of the oil strikers. Together with the union's lobbying effort at the Indonesian parliament, he said, "this work helped bring the strike to a just conclusion."
"As a result," Pakpahan said, "the 8,000 workers at PT Tripatra will work under fairer and more secure conditions."
"We are gratified that a settlement could be reached that reinstates all the strikers with some measure of justice," said ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "We will remain vigilant to ensure that PT Tripatra and Caltex live up to their obligations to these workers."
The strikers are members of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI). They are employed in central Sumatra by PT Tripatra, a contractor for Caltex Petroleum, which is a joint venture between oil giants Chevron and Texaco.
The workers had gone on strike on June 21, following PT Tripatra's failure to follow an Indonesian Ministry of Manpower directive to pay the workers compensation and make them permanent employees. PT Tripatra responded by firing all the strikers on July 6 and using the Indonesian security forces to harass and intimidate the strikers. In a July 23 incident, the security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd of strikers, shooting one in the head, and assaulting several others.
The SBSI took its case to the Indonesian parliament, the National Commission on Human Rights and the US embassy in Jakarta on July 29, decrying the company's actions and its use of the Indonesian military to try to break the strike.
The 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) mobilised protests by its oil worker affiliates around the world. Among those who took action were two ICEM Vice Presidents - Robert Wages of the US union PACE and Fred Higgs of the British TGWU - who immediately lodged protests with Chevron and Texaco. In addition, the ICEM and the the US labour federation AFL-CIO organised a demonstration of 150 people at Texaco's Washington offices. This drew media attention both in the USA and in Indonesia.
As a result of the pressure in Indonesia and internationally, Caltex and PT Tripatra did an about-face. In an August 6 settlement mediated by a committee of the Indonesian parliament, the union agreed to end the strike and the company agreed to reinstate all the strikers. Although the workers did not win the severance payment they wanted, PT Tripatra did agree that when its five-year contract with Caltex expires in 2003, the workers will have permanent status and will receive the full compensation under the law.
Muchtar Pakpahan, General Chairman of the SBSI, today thanked the ICEM, the AFL-CIO and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity for their efforts in support of the oil strikers. Together with the union's lobbying effort at the Indonesian parliament, he said, "this work helped bring the strike to a just conclusion."
"As a result," Pakpahan said, "the 8,000 workers at PT Tripatra will work under fairer and more secure conditions."
"We are gratified that a settlement could be reached that reinstates all the strikers with some measure of justice," said ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "We will remain vigilant to ensure that PT Tripatra and Caltex live up to their obligations to these workers."