Labor dispute at KPC finally settled
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)