Labor dispute at KPC finally settled
JAKARTA (JP): PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) finally reached an agreement with its striking workers on Wednesday that allowed for an immediate resumption of production in East Kalimantan.
Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu announced on Wednesday that the final agreement was concluded during negotiations held at his office by the Indonesian Tripartite Forum consisting of employer, trade union and government representatives.
"We agreed today to settle once and for all the labor dispute at KPC and coal production at its Sanggata mine in East Kalimantan, which halted on Tuesday, should resume immediately this afternoon," Bomer added after the negotiations.
KPC stopped operations on Tuesday for the second time in less than five weeks after striking workers resumed their blockade of the coal mine in Sanggata district following the failure of negotiations on Monday afternoon.
Besides KPC chief executive officer Grant Thorne, representatives of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and Muchtar Pakpahan, chairman of the Prosperity Trade Union, which organized the strike, also took part in the negotiations.
Director general for general mining of the Ministry of Mines and Energy Surna T. Djadjadiningrat said that under the agreement, the striking workers were to completely lift the mine blockade and return to work with immediate effect.
"The agreement takes effect this Wednesday," he said.
KPC and the parties would now able to resume negotiations on technical details of the workers' demands, Surna said, adding that the Ministry of Manpower in Jakarta would facilitate the talks.
Sofyan Wanandi, Chairman of the National Business Development Council (DPUN), who also actively participated in the negotiations, expressed relief over the final agreement.
"We were greatly concerned with this dispute and were keenly interested in contributing to its final settlement for the purpose of maintaining a conducive investment climate," Sofyan said.
Previous negotiations had been organized by the Regional Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4D), which ruled that the workers' strike was illegal.
The local committee had also concluded that KPC could ignore the workers' demands that included a 15 percent wage increase and the reinstatement of daily allowances.
KPC, jointly owned by the Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto and the Anglo-American oil company BP Amoco Plc, first halted production in mid-June after striking workers blockaded its mine.
But operations resumed earlier this month after both sides agreed to reopen negotiations.(vin/bkm)