Labor union calls for greater attention to E. Kalimantan mining workers

A labor union leader has called for government measures to improve the welfare of workers in East Kutai regency in East Kalimantan, saying that collusion between officials at the local manpower office and business companies had partly contributed to the workers? poor condition, local daily Kaltim Post reported on Wednesday.

Vice chairman of the East Kutai chapter of Association of Prosperous Indonesian Workers (SBSI), Sem Karta, said East Kutai regent Awang Faroek should give attention to area workers who had received payment below the minimum standard set by the government.

Sem Karta also called on the regent to think about the future of many workers in East Kutai who could be arbitrarily laid off because they were not permanent workers. They had been recruited by contractors of coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC).

?The workers are not permanent workers so that there is no guarantee for their future because they could be laid off any time. This is a serious problem which needs handling by the local government,? Sem Karta said.

Sem Karta suspected that there was collusion between officials at the local manpower office and contractors concerning recruitment of workers. He therefore urged Awang to replace Gauss Alauddin, head of East Kutai manpower office. (*)