Thursday, December 15, 2011
FREEPORT McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc and its Indonesian union signed a pay deal yesterday to end a three-month strike that had paralysed output at the world's second-biggest copper mine, a union official said.!
The deal, which unions said includes a pay rise of 37 per cent over two years fo workers, ends Indonesia's longest-running industrial dispute and was achieved as pressure grew to find an agreement before Christmas.!
Striking workers at the remote Grasberg mine, which also holds the world's largest gold reserves and produces silver, are expected to return to work on Saturday, the union said earlier on Wednesday.!
"The firm has asked us to mobilise workers back to work on December 17 and we have agreed as part of the pay deal," union field coordinator Hengki Binur said.!
Freeport's CEO Richard Adkerson has been in Jakarta in recent weeks to help negotiate a deal. The agreement was signed by the CEO of Freeport's local unit, Armando Mahler, and the head of the union Sudiro, union spokesman Juli Parorrongan said.!
The company, which had said it is losing 2 million pounds of copper and 3,000 ounces of gold in daily production, declined to comment on the pay talks. The strike action has helped support copper prices, which have been pushed lower on worries about weak global demand, so a resumption in output could undermine prices. Benchmark copper in London was trading down 1.7 per cent yesterday.!
The strike in Papua, eastern Indonesian, has been running since mid-Sept, and the firm declared force majeure on its exports from Grasberg in October, freeing it from contractual obligations.!
Even after workers return, it is likely to take some days to ramp up production, and longer to resume shipments since the firm needs to repair a sabotaged pipeline that takes metal concentrate from the mine to its port.!
The firm's operations have been crippled by attacks on pipelines, employees and blockades by workers and spear-wielding local tribesman that have cut off its food and fuel supplies in a remote region with few roads.
http://www.bt.com.bn/news-asia/2011/12/15/...rt-signs-deal-end-strike |