Alliance of Workers Unions Stage Demonstration at Morowali Nickel Miner PT IMIP
By National Workers’ Union (SPN), Feb 23, 2024
(SPNEWS) Bahodopi – The Alliance of Morowali Workers’ Unions (ASPIRASI), which is a combination of the National Workers’ Union (SPN), SPIM-KPBI, SPL-FSPMI, and SBIMI, lauched another two-day demonstration from February 22 to 23, 2024, in front of the offices of PT. Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi.
The deputy head of the health and welfare section of Morowali Regency SPN local chapter, Mr. Yogi, called for the demands of workers to be accepted and implemented by PT IMIP, because these demands have become central to the concerns of workers employed at the IMIP plant.
“As workers, we demand the management of PT IMIP immediately review wage increases within the PT IMIP area in 2024, which only increased by Rp. 75,000 ($5) per month. We urge PT IMIP management to implement Minister of Labor Regulation No. 01/2017 concerning clear and maximum wage scales, and to be outlined in the form of wage components, as these components have so far been included in non-permanent allowances.
Furthermore, we urge the management of PT. IMIP to enforce Minister of Labor Decree No. 349/2019 concerning the positions held by foreign workers, because foreign workers continue to occupy a number of positions that should not be held by them,” he said.
“We also demand that the management of PT. IMIP stop union busting measures, because there are still union officials being sanctioned for carrying out organizational activities. The substandard service provided at the PT IMIP health clinic is also one of our demands in this action,” he added.
Mr. Yogi also stated that as a large-scale company and the largest nickel company in Southeast Asia, PT. IMIP should be able to carefully address issues like these, instead of ignoring them, because they relate to the welfare of employees, and would not impose an undue burden on company when viewed in terms of the profits it is reaping. Moreover, upon deeper scrutiny, the main points of the demands really just normative standards which in fact representent obligations employers have in respect of their employees. Especially when it comes to wage issues, workers are entitled to more than what they have produced so far.
Workers are not milking cows to be employed at their master’s pleasure, nor are they slaves who always submit to their master even though the value of the work done does not correspond to the income received. Workers have the right to live decently, workers have the right to sufficient income, and if these rights are not met, then workers also have the right to make demands and resist.
If today there are reckless claims stating that the reasons for the protests, resistance, demonstrations, and strikes are useless, then those claims are baseless, highly misleading, anachronistic and ridiculous. If workers remain silent and do not resist, then the situation is just an extension of the era of slavery for workers. With this, we invite every worker’s group to come together because in every corner of the country, in Morowali, in Bahodopi, at PT. IMIP, there are workers ready to struggle and reject every form of exploitation, ready to fight until the end, fight until every demand is met. He concluded.
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Morowali Regency local chapter’s advocacy department, Mr. Andi Hamka, said that the two-day protest yielded results, although not yet optimal, because this is a matter of standards that employers are obliged to comply with.
“The meeting held by company representatives and representatives of labor unions affiliated with ASPIRASI agreed and attempted to optimize the services provided at the IMIP health clinic. The company would not use union busting measures, and if there are indications of union busting measures, they would report the matter to the PT IMIP’s human resources department for follow-up. Regarding the wage scale structure, the company felt that it has been implementing the wage scale structure all along, and if there are differences in interpretation, then the process for settling industrial relations’ disputes would be put into action,” he concluded.
This article is based on https://spn.or.id/aliansi-sp-sb-morowali-gelar-unjuk-rasa-di-pt-imip/.
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