Kideco employees stage protest demanding higher salary
Monday, February 12 2001 - 04:15 AM WIB
Employees of coal mining company PT Kideco Jaya Agung in Batu Sopang sub district, Pasir regency, East Kalimantan have staged a demonstration to demand a higher salary, according to the local Kaltim Post daily.
The paper said that almost all of the company's thousands of employees joined the rally, allegedly organized by the high profile SBSI labor union, in the first couple of days, but by Saturday the numbers shrink to hundreds of employees.
The paper said that the protesters might have agreed to the resolution reached during the marathon meeting between employee and company representatives. The decision is to raise the employee salary according to East Kalimantan Governor ruling.
The demonstration so far was a peaceful one, but the paper quoted officials of the local KNPI youth organization as saying that he feared the rally could turn violent with the existence of SBSI, which had the reputation of turning employees rally to become violent.(*)