Jakarta – The ongoing ambulance workers strike has affected the public service as it is only responding to less than half of the 50 emergency calls it receives on average every day.

One of the ambulance service's telephone operators, Asti Puspitarini, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that since the strike began Monday, they were only working 11 hours a day, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"We responded to only 21 requests for ambulances Monday," she said. Due to the strike, most of the requests were handed over to the Jakarta Health Agency.

"We have to abandon our duties for a while... we have to fight for own welfare first," Irwan, the head of the service's operations unit, was quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif news website Tuesday.

An agency official said the agency had handled 15 of the 21 requests Monday. "People who phoned for ambulance got one from the Indonesian Red Cross, or hospitals or community health centers near to their location," said the official, who asked not to be named.

The 36-year-old service is provided by a foundation established by prominent surgeons in the capital. It has a fleet of 40 ambulances, which park at the service's headquarters on Jl. Sunter Permai Raya, North Jakarta.

Nearly 300 employees went on strike Monday demanding the dismissal of the foundation's chairman, Aryono Djuned Pusponegoro, a pay rise and to be made permanent employees.

Twelve representatives of the employees, including Irawan, went to City Hall on Tuesday to file complaints. Irawan said that employees who had been working for as long as 15 years were paid only Rp 2 million (US$217) per month, including allowances. He said contract workers were paid between Rp 850,000 and Rp 1 million.

Another employee said the foundation received a monthly subsidy from the health agency, but it was not enough to cover operational expenses. "We are subsidized to the tune of Rp 300 million a month, but we need Rp 400 million just to pay the salaries. If the management of the service were to be put under the city administration we would be better off," she added.