KPC?s workers end strikes

The workers of coal miner PT Kaltim Prima Coal in Sangatta, East Kalimantan have ended their strikes after Bumi Resources, the majority owner of the firm, agreed to distribute a part of its stake sale proceeds to them.

?Production has returned to normal as of this morning shift,? KPC?s external relation officer Husein Akma told Petromindo.Com on Wednesday.

All KPC workers would get a total of Rp 69.5 billion in the so-called ?goodwill payment? once Bumi realized its plan of selling its whole stake in KPC around the end of June this year, Husein said, adding that none of the workers involved in the strikes that started on Friday would be punished.

Bumi earlier said it would sell its whole stakes in KPC and South Kalimantan coal miner PT Arutmin Indonesia to a consortium grouped in PT Borneo Lumbung Energi for US$2.3 billion.

Earlier, the workers claimed that Bumi would get US$1.8 billion from the sale of its stake in KPC and demanded two percent of the amount or $36 million.

Sukarman, one of the leaders of the striking workers, said that the Rp 69.5 billion agreed upon by the workers and Bumi?s management was a ?tentative amount?, acceptable for the workers as a condition to resume their works. The workers and Bumi would return to the negotiation table to determine the final amount on June 5, Kaltim Post reported on Wednesday.

?We hope (the amount) can be changed. The negotiation team of the worker would knock on the heart of Bumi Resources,? Sukarman said. (Godang)