Hundreds of Thiess Satui's workers go strike, demanding better welfare

Hundreds of workers at coal contractor PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia's (PT TCI) Satui Mine Project went strike on Friday and Saturday, and possibly they would go on striking on Monday, demanding better welfare for them.

According to a workers representative, Hendri Trilaksana, they went strike because their demand for better salary, better health allowance, non-discrimination in terms of welfare and better working system were not heeded by the management.

They said they presented to their demands to the management on August 14, and given the management four days to respond, but the management only gave its answer 10 days later, and those answers were not yet satisfying.

Meanwhile, PT TCI Jakarta personnel manager Bachtiar-Said said that the company was open to discuss the striking workers' demand. "We are currently conducting dialogue with them, and there is no fixed price and hopefully everything will proceed smoothly."

He said the company and workers had not reached an agreement on many points, including on the increase in salary.

About the working system, Bachtiar said the company had given compensations for workers who worked overtime, in accordance with the government's regulations. The overtime was needed to achieve the company's target. (*)