Read this article in:
14 June, 2010
The ICEM is demanding that PT Kayan Putera Utama Coal (KPUC), an Indonesian company, stop its attacks on the SPE-SBSI Mining Union in eastern Borneo in Indonesia. Recently, the Samarinda-based company dismissed seven trade union leaders at the Desa Separi mine near Tenggarong in the Kalimantan Timur coal fields and enlisted another organisation to attack the union.
In a letter to KPUC managing director Arifin Harun in Samarinda, ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda said, “If you do not cease and desist from your actions, we will take further steps to bring the weight of the ICEM and its affiliates comprising some 20 million members to bear on this situation.” A copy of the letter was also sent to Andrew Vickers, Chairman of ICEM’s Mining Sector and General Secretary of the Mining Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, and Energy Union (CFMEU) of Australia.
The ICEM cited clear violations of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom association and collective bargaining in the letter. The letter can be seen here.
The ICEM intends to conduct a full investigation of the situation if it is not resolved. It will work closely with its affiliate, the Indonesia Prosperity Trade Union Central Board, the largest trade union representing miners in Indonesia. Indonesia is a major supplier of coal to China, and is now the largest exporter of thermal coal in the world. In the wake of the surge in coal mining in Indonesia, employers have become increasingly hostile to trade unions.
PT Kayan Putera Utama Coal is listed as Indonesia’s 42nd largest coal producer, with the latest figures citing it produced 322,826 tonnes of coal in 2008.