Timah cuts employees' working hours

Bahrul Ilmi Yakub, The Jakarta Post, Pangkal Pinang

Citing projected losses of Rp 20 billion this year, PT Timah, the state-owned tin company in Bangka-Belitung province, has reduced the working hours of its more than 5,200 workers.

If a current drop in tin prices on the global marketplace continues, however, company officials admit they may have to lay off up to 70 percent of their employees.

Timah spokesman M. Anhar Ramli said that, beginning in late November, daily shifts were reduced to six hours per day; on Saturdays, the factory has been closed.

"With such a policy, the company will be able to reduce the use of fuel, electricity, telephone and other facilities," he said on Monday.

For now, despite the reduction in hours, management has no plans to reduce workers' salaries, according to Ramli. "The workers' wages will not be cut," he said.

But, if market conditions do not improve, cautioned Ramli, PT Rimah may be forced to lay off well over half its workers.

"If the tin price continues plunging, management will likely lay off 70 percent, or 3,750, of its employees," he said, recounting a discussion at an Oct. 31 shareholders meeting.

He said tin prices have dipped to between US$3,500 and $3,700 per metric ton since last August, when tin prices fetched between $4,000 and 4,200 per metric ton.

"This is the lowest level in the last three decades," he said.

Currently, he added, company officials are considering laying off more than 1,400 workers in the operation's dredging division, and to sell a part of its assets in the province.