Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang, East Java – The Indonesian Workers' Union of East Java is demanding PT Bentoel International Investama explain what will become of its 19,000 workers after the publicly-listed company underwent acquisition by tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BAT).

With Bentoel having sold 85 percent of its shares, and BAT controlling the majority, workers now face an even greater dilemma. The only thing stopping the company being entirely privatized are the remaining 15 percent of publicly-owned shares, which reportedly BAT has in its sights.

"I personally have no idea what will become of the PT Bentoel workers now that BAT owns the majority of the company shares," the branch's chairman, Rendra Kresna, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Rendra, also the regent of Malang where Bentoel is located, said the company had not hinted of any significant changes since the acquisition had gone through.

The unions, however, will take immediate action to ensure that any changes at the managerial level do not affect workers or their salaries following the US$94 million acquisition. "Supposedly, workers will be better off under the new, stronger management system," Rendra said.

He said he would immediately ask for reports from union chairmen in Malang city and Malang regency should there be any problems related to the future of Bentoel workers.

Also, he said he would establish whether or not there were any agreements between Bentoel and BAT that would affect workers, but could not be disclosed publicly.

The acquisition is expected to significantly boost BAT's revenue and net profit in Indonesia, the world's fifth largest market, which already sells 250 billion cigarettes every year. Bentoel alone sold nearly 18 billion cigarettes last year, around 7 percent of the total number sold in all of Indonesia.

Bentoel product specification and consumer service manager, Ekoyono Hartono, said the company had not discussed any labor-related issues yet. "We can only offer a temporary explanation that all activities related to Bentoel will go as usual," he told reporters, without elaborating.

In the 2009 state budget, the central government allocated Rp 17.6 billion for the Malang city administration and Rp 26.3 billion for the Malang regency administration for managing sharing its tobacco excise revenue sharing, according to Finance Ministry data.

Management and supporters of PS Arema soccer club are also questioning their future following the acquisition, as the management is financed by Bentoel through the company's corporate social responsibility program.