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n Oct. 10, in chaotic circumstances, the police of Timika opened fire and shot dead an employee of PT Freeport Indonesia, Petrus Ayamiseba. His death sparked fury not only in Timika but also outside the city with demands for the resignation of the regional and provincial police chiefs.

Ayamiseba was one of thousands of Freeport workers who had gone on strike for weeks demanding an increase in wages by 25 percent, as well as other employment benefits. Freeport Indonesia workers reportedly receive the lowest salaries among all Freeport McMoRan (FM) workers around the world, with wages ranging from US$1.50–$3.00 per hour.

The labor strike is a relatively new phenomenon in the US gold mining firm. It was an unthinkable option prior to the reform movement in 1998.

It was Tongoi Papua, the union for the indigenous Papuan workers, which made history in 2007 when it organized the first major strike in the history of Freeport Indonesia. The strike disrupted production at the world’s largest gold and copper mine for a week. Freeport executives settled the dispute by agreeing to accommodate the demands of workers. The most important demands were an increase of wages for indigenous Papuan workers and that indigenous Papuans should be prioritized for new recruits.

Four years later, on July 4, 2011, both indigenous and non-indigenous Freeport workers walked off the job at Freeport’s Grasberg mine. Some 5,000 workers traveled on foot to Timika, about 54 kilometers down to the lowlands, after FM refused to provide them with transportation.

Freeport representatives acknowledged the significance of the strike through reports that the workers had crippled the production line and contributed to the rise of copper prices in the global market. The workers returned to their jobs when Freeport agreed to negotiate with the Freeport Union under the mediation of government officials.

Several months later, however, the union claimed that Freeport would not agree to meet their demands for a 25 percent pay rise. Consequently, another strike was held on Sept. 29, which coincided with other strikes held by Freeport workers in Peru, Chile and Bolivia.

Under Article 137 of the Law on Industrial Relations, organizing a strike is legal and every worker is entitled to participate in collective action. As stipulated by law, the state apparatus has the obligation to ensure that laborers can exercise this right in a lawful, orderly and peaceful manner.

As such, the Papuan Police chief rightly informed the public that the strike was lawful as long as it did not jeopardize public order.

Moreover, under Article 143 of the law, nobody is allowed to intervene in a labor or labor union exercise if it is held in a lawful, orderly and peaceful manner. However, the reality in Timika shows the opposite.

The shooting of Ayamiseba while he was on strike shows that the police intervened and confronted the strike with lethal force. According to the law, industrial relations matters are not subject to police jurisdiction. The investigation team, which consists of the National Police Headquarters, has been led on the ground by Brigadier General Paulus Waterpauw, a former local police chief and a Timika native. The team has the duty to investigate the killing and to follow through on allegations that the leader of the union has been intimidated by the local police.

FM is no stranger to violence and death. The report of Catholic Bishop Moeninghoff on the human right abuses in the FM mining site says violence and death have been rampant in the FM concession area since 1995. Wages are not the only problem. Rather, it is one of a myriad of major issues to deal with, including human rights, environmental destruction, recognition of customary land rights, the heavy presence of the Indonesian security forces and industrial relations as a whole.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has made it clear that justice will be served for Ayamiseba and his family. While it is a conditio sine qua non, the instruction seems unheeded.

Issues surrounding Freeport are much more problematic than a murder of one individual. It constitutes a stumbling block to the development of trust between Jakarta and Papua, which the newly established UP4B (Special Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua) aims to address.

As US President Barack Obama took stern actions against BP for the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, so should Yudhoyono be called on to take action against Freeport. Yudhoyono must revisit the contract between the government and Freeport to ensure Freeport’s compliance to international human rights standards, recognition of customary land rights, environmental protections and fair industrial relations.

The writer is a Franciscan friar and former director of the Office for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church in Jayapura, Papua.