Workers of KPC to hold mass strike tomorrow

Workers of giant coal miner Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in Sangatta, Kutai District, East Kalimantan, have planned to stage a mass strike tomorrow, according to Antara news agency.

Community Development Supervisor of PT KPC, Salehudin, was quoted as by Antara in Sangatta, yesterday, that the company had already known about the plan since last week.

"Of course I know that the strike is just a part of a global mass strike to be held tomorrow in most of the countries in the world," he said.

But of the total 6,000 workers of the biggest coal mining country in the world, only 1,000 of them, who are members of the Indonesian Labor Association (SBSI), will definitely launch the mass strike while others can be convinced that working is better than holding a strike.

He added workers of the company bound in the SBSI do not have powerful positions anymore because the company has been able to convince SBSI leaders inside the company about the necessity of struggle through peaceful action. "I have told them that they should be realistic, that the struggle must be intended for the prosperity of the workers, not for the destruction of the company."

"SBSI always threatens to damage the production facilities if its requirements, including increasing salaries and better facilities is not fulfilled by the company. But if the company is destroyed, they will also suffer from the loss," he said.

He added that the company has warned the workers bound by SBSI, that while holding a strike, they must not hamper the production; otherwise their bonuses will be dropped.

Police and military personnel have promised the company that they will take stern measures against workers who w burn or damage the company's property.

"We have got the guarantee from the security personnel that they will not tolerate any anarchic actions, because they also realize that the company has made a tremendous contribution to East Kalimantan Province and to the state as well," he said. (*)