KPC employees agree to end strike

The protesting employees of East Kalimantan coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) agreed on Wednesday to end their strike which had caused disruption in the company's production process.

The agreement is part of a five-point agreement reached at a negotiation with the KPC management in Jakarta. The negotiation was opened by Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The protesting employees also agreed to resort to negotiation to settle their demands. The employees and the company agreed that future negotiation would be held at the Ministry of Labor Affairs in Jakarta.

The workers also accepted the warning letter given by the company to 66 protesting employees. But in return, KPC also agreed to pay 50 percent of the salary of the protesting employees even during their strike, which have started since June 14.

The agreement was signed by representatives of the company, protesting workers, and the government. From the KPC side, the signatories included KPC commissioner Noke Kiroyan and president Grant Thorne.

Muchtar Pakpahan, chairman of the SBSI labor union, also signed the agreement. The protesting employees are grouped in the SBSI.

Meanwhile, director general of mining Surna T. Djajadiningrat represented the government, while Minister of Labor Affairs Bomer Pasaribu and head of the National Business Development Council (DPUN) Sofyan Wanandi also signed as the facilitator of the negotiation.

KPC has some 2,600 employees. Some 200 of them had staged a strike since June 14 to demand a 15 percent increase in salary and other benefits. They blockaded the company's several key production facilities during their strike, which had caused KPC to halt production and prompted it to announce a force majeure to avoid penalty from overseas buyers.

Protesting employees agreed to end blockading the production facilities on June 25 following a negotiation that was facilitated by the East Kutai Regent Awang Faroek.

But during the next round of talks, the employees resumed on Monday the facility blockade after the met a deadlock in their negotiation with the KPC management.

The protesting employees demanded the company to pay their salary even during their strike, and to revoke the warning letter given to 66 of their colleagues. The 66 employees have been seen as the provocateur of the strike. KPC had earlier dismissed the 66 employees, but following calls from the local government and legislators, the company agreed to withdraw the dismissal decision.

But the company declined to fulfill their last demands, which led to the deadlock and a renewed blockade of the production facility. (*)