KPC loses 300,000 tons of coal due to strike
Wednesday, September 3 2003 - 03:03 AM WIB
?Production activities have been halted for five days due to the strike, which caused an output loss of 300,000 tons. However, the management has yet to decide whether to declare force majeure,? KPC?s president Noke Kiroyan told Petromindo.Com on Wednesday.
Noke said the firm would likely fail to reach its annual production target of 18 million tons for this year, unless the strike soon came to an end and the firm was able to boost production after the end of the strike.
According to Noke, four vessels are currently doing loading activities at the firm?s coal port, but other vessels have delayed their arrivals.
Noke said the workers continued their strike action on Wednesday.
KPC?s workers started the strike action last Friday, demanding cash bonus from the management following a deal allowing local firm PT Bumi Resources to acquire the entire shares owned by the subsidiaries of mining and energy giants Rio Tinto and BP PLC in the East Kalimantan-based mining firm.
Meanwhile, Kompas daily reported that during negotiations on Tuesday, KPC?s workers still insisted that the management should give them a cash bonus of US$40 million or 8 percent of the total $500 million to be paid by Bumi Resources for the acquisition of KPC. As a matter of fact, the amount was much lower than the workers? initial demand, which reached $75 million.
?We stick to the demand that we expressed during the negotiation on Aug. 21, that is 8 percent of the acquisition value,? Sugianto, the workers? spokesman, was quoted by Kompas as saying on Tuesday.
Kompas reported that during the negotiation on Aug. 25, KPC?s shareholders proposed to hold another talks with the workers on Sept. 2 in Jakarta. The workers? representatives said they would go to Jakarta only if the shareholders pay each worker Rp 15 million in reward for their willingness to accept the proposal. (Godang)