Strike ends, KPC expects full production next week<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After going on strike for several weeks, about 2,300 workers of
\nEast Kalimantan-based PT Kaltim Prima Coal returned to work on
\nSunday morning.<\/p>\n
KPC's management expects the coal mining firm to be in full
\nproduction some time next week.<\/p>\n
\"We hope in less than a week the company will come to full
\nproduction and begin to supply our customers again,\" KPC's
\nspokeswoman Nunik Maharani Maulana told The Jakarta Post on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Chaerullah, a spokesperson for the striking workers, confirmed
\nNunik's statement, noting that the workers had agreed to resume
\nwork despite the fact that the workers and the management still
\ndisagreed on several issues.<\/p>\n
\"We complied with the Kutai Timur regent's appeal, as the
\nmediator, to get back to work while negotiating the unsettled
\nissues,\" he told the Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Chaerullah and Nunik said separately that the remaining
\ndifferences between the workers and the management concerned the
\nformula to be used to distribute the goodwill payment and the
\nquestion if the goodwill payment was subject to income tax.<\/p>\n
Nunik said that there would be no sanctions imposed on the
\nstrikers, but it was agreed they would not receive wages while
\nthey were on strike or their third quarter bonus.<\/p>\n
Chaerullah said he expected the discussion on the two matters
\nwould start Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The workers went on strike following a move by KPC's
\nshareholders -- Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto and
\nAnglo-American energy company BP Plc -- to sell their entire
\nstake in the coal firm to PT Bumi Resources for US$500 million.<\/p>\n
Arguing they had made a large contribution to the development
\nof the company, the workers insisted that the shareholders should
\nhave consulted them prior to the sale and give them a cash bonus
\nfrom the sale.<\/p>\n
The strike had been painful for KPC as it caused an estimated
\ndaily loss of $500,000 and prompted the company to declare force
\nmajeure on its obligation to buyers.<\/p>\n
After long and thorny discussions, KPC's shareholders agreed
\nto pay a so-called \"goodwill payment\" worth Rp 50 billion or
\nabout $6 million to all KPC workers.<\/p>\n
Last Tuesday, the workers and the management, mediated by the
\nKutai Timur regency administration, came to several agreements.
\nAs a result, the workers started to work the following day, only
\nto strike again after three hours of work, upon learning the
\nmanagement would impose sanctions on some of them and that the
\ngoodwill payment would be deducted to pay income tax.<\/p>\n
The strike has angered many parties, including Minister of
\nManpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea, who insisted the
\nstrike was illegal.<\/p>\n
The business community said the strike would set a bad
\nprecedent that would worsen the investment climate and scare away
\nforeign investors.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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