Antam seeks to end labor strike
Antam seeks to end labor strike
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) said it has agreed to raise the salary of workers at its two ferronickel plants in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi, to end a four-day strike which has disrupted operations at the plants.
"We (the management) have basically agreed to raise their wages as long as they stop the strike and go back to work," Antam spokesman Dohar Siregar told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He said that the company was still negotiating with the workers on the size of the salary increase.
Antam employs around 1,400 workers at the two plants.
Hundreds of workers at the plants staged a strike on Tuesday, demanding a salary increase of 100 percent to 300 percent.
They blocked accesses to Antam's two ferronickel plants.
The strike was later supported by other employees, causing the Antam plants to stop operations.
The two plants produce a combined 10,300 metric tons of ferronickel per year.
Dohar, however, said that the loss of output caused by the strike was insignificant.
Antam is planning to develop its third ferronickel plant in Pomalaa to boost production capacity to around 24,000 tons per year. The company is seeking foreign financing for the US$380 million project.
Continuing labor disputes may jeopardize the expansion plan, as foreign creditors would be reluctant to provide the financing, analysts said.
Antam is currently in negotiation with Germany's Hermes for the financing of the project.
Antam shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange were down on Friday at Rp 1,325, from Rp 1,350 on Thursday.
Many companies in the country have had to deal with workers striking for better wages and conditions of service since the fall of former authoritarian president Soeharto in 1998.
Some analysts are concerned that worker protests may discourage foreign companies from investing in Indonesia.
The government is now trying hard to improve the investment climate at home to attract badly needed foreign investment.
The mining sector has been one of the largest contributors to foreign direct investment.
But reports said earlier that some mining companies had started to abandon or suspend their investment plans here due to various problems, including labor disputes and an aggressive stance by newly empowered regional governments in collecting tax revenue.