Paiton warns workers against launching strike
Friday, October 8 2004 - 01:40 PM WIB
PT Edison Mission Operations and Maintenance Indonesia (EMOMI), which operates and maintains the power plant owned by PT Paiton Energy, warned on Friday its workers against launching strike, saying the strike was against the law and the workers could be jailed or fined for their actions.
The firm said the strike planned by the workers could jeopardize supplies from the power plant and under the existing Electricity Law No.20/2002, anyone who disturbs electricity supplies to the public could be jailed for a maximum of three years or fined a maximum of Rp 500 million.
According the statement, the firm’s labor union planned to hold a strike for two days from next Wednesday.
Petromindo’s data say Paiton Energy has two power generation units each with the capacity of 615 megawatts (MW) at the Paiton power plant complex in Probolinggo, East Java. The firm is a joint venture between U.S. based Edison Mission Energy (the holding company of EMOMI), Japanese firm Mitsui, American firm General Electric and local firm PT Batu Hitam Perkasa.
Earlier, quoting an official of state electricity firm PT PLN, Petromindo reported that the workers launched strike following Edison Mission Energy’s plan to sell its stake in Paiton Energy to Mitsui. However, EMOMI said in the statement that the workers planned the strike in a bid to pressure the firm to give them “compensation” following the sale by Edison Mission Energy of its international assets in several countries. It does not specify the buyer of the assets.
The workers argued that under Labor Law No. 13/2003, they are entitled to get “compensations” as a result of the asset sales. However, EMOMI’s management insisted that they have no such right, as the asset sales did not affect the ownership structure of Edison Mission Energy’s asset in Indonesia.
According to the statement, EMOMI’s management has tried to calm down the workers by saying that no workers would be laid off as a result of the change in the ownership of Edison Mission Energy's international assets. However, the company said, the workers insisted that EMOMI should give them a huge amount of compensation. (Bodega)