E. Kalimantan council to sue Thiess in court over ex-workers case

The East Kalimantan provincial legislative council (DPRD) has decided to sue in court Australian mining contractor PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia (TCI) which allegedly had insulted the council, local daily Kaltim Post reported on Tuesday.

DPRD vice chairman Khairul Fuad said Thiess leaders had not only refused to come to the council but also had not been impolite in its letter to it.

?Obviously, the contents of their letter that they were not willing to come sounded arrogant,? Khairul said after a meeting of council members to discuss the future of 171 workers of Thiess who had been fired last year. Khairul however did not mention what arrogant expressions they had found in Thiess? letter.

The initial plan was that representatives of the 171 workers would meet on Monday with Thiess executives at DPRD in the presence of council members. But, no Thiess leader came to the meeting, while the company management sent a letter to the council saying that there was no reason for them to attend the meeting.

Thiess fired the 171 workers in June 2002 after they refused to return to work at its mining project.

The workers had reported their case to DPRD asking it to press Thiess management to pay their salaries. They were against Thiess management?s decision to fire them arguing that its action was illegal.

Minister of manpower Jacob Nuwawea had annulled the decision of the East Kalimantan office of labor dispute settlement that supported the layoff of the 171 workers. Meanwhile, the South Jakarta district court had ordered Thiess management to pay salaries of the workers. (*)