Railway workers plan to strike over lack of fuel subsidy

The national railway workers’ union announced plans to strike early next month over the government’s refusal to allocate subsidized fuel to the railway industry.

“We fail to comprehend the government’s refusal to allocate subsidized fuel to public transportation services. So, if there must be a strike to remind the government about how important is this issue to us, then so it shall be,” union chairman Sri Nugroho said Sunday as

quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the lack of subsidy cost national railway operator PT KAI Rp 400 billion in losses, since it had to purchase unsubsidized fuel at around Rp 9,000 per liter.

Earlier, the union announced plans to strike at certain times in early December. It then announced plans to strike all day long following the government’s continuing ignorance of the issue.