Jakarta – The union of state railway operator PT KAI on Monday threatened a large-scale strike from Dec. 10 to 12 if the government fails to endorse a regulation on their status as civil servants by Friday.

"If by Friday the government fails to endorse the regulation, we will hold the strike. But if the regulation is issued, we will cancel our plan," said workers' association head Kuspawarman, as quoted by detik.com.

He said that prior to the strike, the workers planned to send representatives to meet State Secretary Hatta Radjasa.

The workers have been in limbo regarding their status since PT KAI was turned into a limited liability company in 2000. During a company restructuring, the workers lost their rights as civil servants.

Former state minister for state enterprises Sugiharto had pledged to return the workers' status as civil servants, but no government regulation was ever issued.