TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Freeport halts operations amid fight between workers

PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is temporarily halting operations at the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Timika, Papua, following a campaign of violence and intimidation by employees against workers who did not join last year’s strike

Rangga D. Fadillah (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, February 25, 2012

Share This Article

Change Size

Freeport halts operations amid fight between workers

P

T Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is temporarily halting operations at the Grasberg gold and copper mine in Timika, Papua, following a campaign of violence and intimidation by employees against workers who did not join last year’s strike.

“We are experiencing work interruptions in connection with our efforts to resume normal operations at PTFI,” company spokesperson Ramdani Sirait said in a press statement on Friday.

“Certainly, returning workers have engaged in acts of violence and intimidation against non-striking workers and supervisory personnel. We are working with union officials and government authorities to resolve the ongoing issues between returning workers.”

The statement does not provide any description of the violence, but three workers have been arrested and are being held at the Tembagapura Police office.

Virgo Solossa, the head of the Mimika chapter of the All-Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI), told The Jakarta Post that employees stopped working because PTFI management failed to fulfill several terms of an agreement signed on Dec. 22.

“The agreement says that PTFI has to pay salaries of workers who joined last year’s strike for the period of Dec. 21 to Jan. 21. However, on Jan. 29 when the payment date came, the workers did not receive the payments as expected,” he said in a telephone interview.

He said that workers were angry with the payments, which then saw some committing violent acts against colleagues and supervisors.

“The PTFI management fails to create a conducive environment for reconciliation. It also fails to comply with agreements we have made. We decided to stop working until the company fulfills our demands,” Virgo said.

The union demanded that PTFI replace Grasberg supervisors and withdraw legal action against the workers involved in the violence. “We stopped working, as a manifestation of our distrust of PTFI’s management,” Virgo said.

In reference to the salaries paid, Ramdani said that PTFI “had implemented and was implementing clauses agreed in the joint working agreement (PKB)”.

Freeport’s workers went on strike from July 4 to 11 last year, demanding a pay rise in the PKB for 2011-2013. On Sept. 15, due to failure to reach agreement with PTFI management, workers decided to stop working until Dec. 14, when another agreement was made.

As a result of the strikes, PTFI declared force majeure in October, freeing it from its obligations. The company claimed the strikes impacted production and shipments. A slower concentrate production had impacted the company’s ability to fulfill sales commitments.

The PKB was signed on January 25, witnessed by Manpower and Transportation Ministry officials.

According to a report by US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, PTFI’s parent company, the estimated impact of the disruptions amounted to production losses of almost 75,000 tons of copper and nearly five tons of gold in the fourth quarter of 2011, and around 106,600 tons of copper and 7.9 tons of gold for the year.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.