Alfian and Panca Nugraha, Jakarta, Mataram – Workers at PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PT NNT), a subsidiary of US mining giant Newmont Mining Corporation and the operator of the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in West Sumbawa, ended their strike Friday after the company offered to pay out bonuses earlier.
The workers initially planned to hold the strike until Tuesday next week, but the company announced Friday that the workers had agreed to end the action.
"We appreciate that the discussions between management and the unions were conducted in good faith to end the dispute and provide a path forward to resolve the outstanding overtime issue," NNT operations general manager Darren Hall said in a press statement published Friday.
NNT public affairs manager Kasan Mulyono said the workers had returned to work on Friday afternoon. "Operations at Batu Hijau have returned to normal," he said.
The workers started their strike on Monday, in which NNT estimates that between 300 and 400 workers took part. Unions, however, claim the participants of about 3,000 workers. The workers held the strike to push the company to pay overtime wages.
In early July, the West Nusa Tenggara provincial office of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry ordered NNT to pay Rp 126 billion (US$13.8 million) in overtime wages – some of which was outstanding since June 2008 – to 1,919 employees. NNT said it was still seeking legal clarification regarding the issue.
The overtime wage dispute has not been resolved although the strike has ended. However, the company's decision to pay out additional and early bonuses seems to have calmed workers enough to get back to work.
Kasan said the company would provide workers with "appreciation funds" of up to twice their August basic salary. In addition, he said, the company would also pay them so-called "copper bonuses", also up to twice their basic salary in August.
Kasan said the copper bonuses were paid out twice a year. The bonuses to be paid in August were supposed to have been paid out in January next year. "This reflects the company's good intentions and will apply to all workers," he said.
However, the bonuses are unrelated to the disputed overtime wages. NNT is sticking with its initial stance, saying it wants to refer the case to the West Nusa Tenggara provincial office of the Manpower and Industrial Relations Court. "Both parties remain committed to following the legal process to obtain a final and binding legal decision regarding the overtime issue," Hall said.
Newmont Indonesia Limited, Newmont's unit for operations in Indonesia, owns a 31.5 percent stake in NNT. The remaining shares are owned by Sumitomo subsidiary Nusa Tenggara Mining Corporation (24.5 percent), domestic mining firm PT Pukuafu Indah (20 percent), and a joint venture by the regional governments and PT Multi Daerah Bersaing (24 percent).