Freeport Indonesia workers stay on strike as union demands more
Workers have yet to return to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's Indonesia mine as they wait for the outcome of further talks between the union and the firm's local CEO before ending their strike, union officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
A late-night deal was struck on Monday to end the week-long strike that has paralysed output at one of the world's top suppliers of copper and gold, but the union is threatening to revoke the agreement if its demands are not met.
It wants the company to include its Indonesia CEO Armando Mahler in planned negotiations over pay, plus have talks with Freeport's chairman James Moffett, as well as for the firm to sack some Indonesia management members for the strike to end.
Union officials said a meeting with Mahler to discuss their demands started at about 1400 local time (0500 GMT) in a hotel in Timika, the nearest main town to the mine.
"We want to discuss the new contract with the company's decision maker, not just his envoys," another union spokesman, Juli Parorrongan told Reuters by telephone.
"If our wish is not granted, it will overturn the agreement we reached last night," he said, adding that the union has not yet revoked the letter proposing to extend the strike for another week as promised under Monday's deal.
Freeport did not respond to queries seeking comment.
A Freeport source, who declined to be identified, has told Reuters that including Mahler in pay talks would be unlikely as the discussions over contracts could last two months.
The delay meant the strike entered a second week on Tuesday, with 8,000 workers and other contractors having abandoned mining at the giant Grasberg mine, as well as loading of concentrate shipments at the firm's port in Papua province.
A Reuters eyewitness said workers had gathered at the union's office in Timika, about 40 miles (64 km) away from the Grasberg mine, before returning home for the result of the new talks, meaning any work at the mine on Tuesday is now unlikely.
The strike has crippled production and operations at a mine with the biggest recoverable copper reserves and largest gold reserves, and the deal to end it had meant it was "less likely" that the firm would need to declare a force majeure, a Freeport source has told Reuters.
At the start of this week, the firm's port in eastern Papua province was like a "dead city" with cargo ships unable to leave because of a lack of concentrate or workers, providing evidence that a force majeure -- a move that frees it from contractual obligations due to events beyond its control -- might be on the cards without a quick return to work.
The strike at Grasberg combined with weather-related disruptions at mines in Chile to boost copper prices to a three-month high last Friday.
LME Copper steadied on Tuesday after falling the previous day on nagging concerns the euro zone debt crisis would spread to Italy, but supply disruptions in Indonesia and Chile plus positive demand outlook lent support.
A late-night deal was struck on Monday to end the week-long strike that has paralysed output at one of the world's top suppliers of copper and gold, but the union is threatening to revoke the agreement if its demands are not met.
It wants the company to include its Indonesia CEO Armando Mahler in planned negotiations over pay, plus have talks with Freeport's chairman James Moffett, as well as for the firm to sack some Indonesia management members for the strike to end.
Union officials said a meeting with Mahler to discuss their demands started at about 1400 local time (0500 GMT) in a hotel in Timika, the nearest main town to the mine.
"We want to discuss the new contract with the company's decision maker, not just his envoys," another union spokesman, Juli Parorrongan told Reuters by telephone.
"If our wish is not granted, it will overturn the agreement we reached last night," he said, adding that the union has not yet revoked the letter proposing to extend the strike for another week as promised under Monday's deal.
Freeport did not respond to queries seeking comment.
A Freeport source, who declined to be identified, has told Reuters that including Mahler in pay talks would be unlikely as the discussions over contracts could last two months.
The delay meant the strike entered a second week on Tuesday, with 8,000 workers and other contractors having abandoned mining at the giant Grasberg mine, as well as loading of concentrate shipments at the firm's port in Papua province.
A Reuters eyewitness said workers had gathered at the union's office in Timika, about 40 miles (64 km) away from the Grasberg mine, before returning home for the result of the new talks, meaning any work at the mine on Tuesday is now unlikely.
The strike has crippled production and operations at a mine with the biggest recoverable copper reserves and largest gold reserves, and the deal to end it had meant it was "less likely" that the firm would need to declare a force majeure, a Freeport source has told Reuters.
At the start of this week, the firm's port in eastern Papua province was like a "dead city" with cargo ships unable to leave because of a lack of concentrate or workers, providing evidence that a force majeure -- a move that frees it from contractual obligations due to events beyond its control -- might be on the cards without a quick return to work.
The strike at Grasberg combined with weather-related disruptions at mines in Chile to boost copper prices to a three-month high last Friday.
LME Copper steadied on Tuesday after falling the previous day on nagging concerns the euro zone debt crisis would spread to Italy, but supply disruptions in Indonesia and Chile plus positive demand outlook lent support.