Former workers can not bring new charges against Thiess: Legislator

As many as 171 former workers laid off by Australian mining contractor PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia (TCI) can no longer bring new charges against the company management because the agreement signed last year by the two parties to end their long-running dispute was legally final, a House member said over the weekend.

?TCI is not legally obliged to respond to them if they bring any new charge against it. The agreement was final,? Hadi Warsikoen, a member of House commission in charge of manpower affairs, was quoted by Kaltim Post as saying.

Hadi said representatives of the 171 workers and TCI executive director Samel Rumende had signed a final agreement last November to end their dispute which followed their layoff in 2001. Also signing the agreement were Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwawea, House members, East Kalimantan vice governor Waris Husain and East Kalimantan council chairman Kasyful Anwar, said Hadi, who coordinated negotiations between the conflicting parties.

Meanwhile, Samel said that only 36 of the 171 people had not received their separation pay, due to technical problems.

The 171 people worked at a coal mining project of Kideco Jaya Agung in Pasir Regency in East Kalimantan when they were fired in 2001. The TCI management took the action after the former workers refused to return to work in protest against alleged unfair treatment by the company.

TCI is the largest coal mining contractor in Indonesia and currently has more than 4,000 workers. (*)