PT Freeport has broken Indonesian labour law, and its own collective agreement, by unilaterally placing workers on furlough, and dismissing workers taking strike action. More than 3,000 workers have now been fired from Grasberg mine. Several hundred more have been fired from PT Smelting, a joint venture between Freeport and Mitsubishi that processes copper from Grasberg.
IndustriALL has launched a campaign, with LabourStart, calling on the Indonesian government to ensure that Freeport complies with the law. The message appeals to the government to intervene at Grasberg and at PT Smelting to reverse the unjust dismissal of the workers.
The government must ensure that Freeport and Mitsubishi respect workers’ rights, and that Freeport returns to the negotiating table with CEMWU at Grasberg, and Freeport and Mitsubishi return to the negotiating table with FSPMI at PT Smelting. Workers' fundamental rights cannot be violated, and the government must intervene before these disputes escalate into civil unrest or violence.
IndustriALL will be meeting with representatives of the Indonesian government in Geneva tomorrow, to stress the urgency of the crisis and press for a resolution.
In a show of defiance and termination, yesterday thousands of striking, furloughed and terminated workers held a peaceful demonstration outside the headquarters of the Mimika Regency local authorities in the administrative centre of Timika, in Papua.