Strike brings work at KPC to a halt<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A strike by around 150 workers of coal mining
\ncompany PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) has forced the company to halt
\nits mining operations in East Kalimantan, a senior government
\nofficial said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Director general of general mining Surna Tjahja
\nDjadjadiningrat said the workers had been on strike since June
\n14, and were causing KPC daily losses of Rp 2 billion
\n(US$232,558).<\/p>\n
He said the workers demanded a salary increase of 15 percent
\nand that their suspended allowances be revived.<\/p>\n
\"We're a democratic nation now, so it's their right to go on
\nstrike,\" Surna said at a news conference.<\/p>\n
He said KPC was forced to stop its mining operations when the
\nworkers blocked the roads leading to the company's coal
\nprocessing site and its fuel station on June 15. They also
\noccupied the company's headquarters, he added.<\/p>\n
He said that if the strike continued, KPC's coal buyers might
\nclaim compensation for the disruption in coal supply, \"They're
\nalready running out of stock.\" he added.<\/p>\n
Surna said that negotiations between the company and KPC's
\nunit of Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), which organized
\nthe strike, were still under way.<\/p>\n
\"The strike is an affair between KPC and its employees,\" he
\nsaid, adding that the Ministry of Mines and Energy would not
\ninterfere.<\/p>\n
\"Furthermore, the Ministry of Manpower is currently dealing
\nwith this matter,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Surna said that the ministry's Regional Committee for the
\nSettlement of Labor Disputes (P4D) had ruled that the strike
\nviolates Law No. 22\/1957 on strikes, which requires workers to
\nnotify the body before staging a strike.<\/p>\n
However, Surna said he had told KPC to listen to the workers'
\naspirations as long as their demands were reasonable.<\/p>\n
\"However, if workers force their will on the company through
\nviolence, KPC also has the right to ask the government for
\nassistance with security,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
KPC is the second mining company this year to cease operations
\nfollowing the closure of access roads by protesters.<\/p>\n
Gold mining company PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) stopped
\nmining operations on April 18 and is currently negotiating to end
\na land dispute with residents near its gold mine, also in East
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
The company has since reported a potential loss of over 700
\nkilograms or 200,000 troy ounces of gold.<\/p>\n
KEM and KPC are both subsidiaries of Australian mine giant Rio
\nTinto. (bkm)<\/p>",
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