Media Asing Sebut Ada Bekas Karyawan Freeport Terluka Saat Unjuk Rasa
Former Workers at U.S.-owned Miner Freeport Indonesia Injured in Clash with Police
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
RATUSAN bekas karyawan Freeport Indonesia bentrok dengan pasukan keamanan di dekat tambang perusahaan di Provinsi Papua pada Sabtu dan tiga pekerja terluka, kata pejabat perusahaan dan serikat pekerja.
Unit usaha pertambangan raksasa AS, Freeport McMoran Inc telah terlibat dalam perselisihan perburuhan sejak Mei, setelah sekitar 5.000 karyawan melakukan pemogokan untuk memprotes PHK massal.
Setelah pembatasan ekspor terkait dengan sengketa izin, Freeport melakukan PHK massal terhadap sekitar 3.000 pekerja di Indonesia awal tahun ini, yang memicu pemogokan dan tingkat ketidakhadiran karyawan yang tinggi.
Freeport kemudian menganggap bahwa sekitar 3.000 karyawan tetap dan 1.000 karyawan kontrak yang absen telah "mengundurkan diri secara sukarela".
Polisi pada Sabtu melepaskan tembakan peringatan ke udara untuk membubarkan kerumunan para bekas karyawan yang menuntut kembali pekerjaan mereka, dengan memblokir jalan dan membakar truk.
Anggota Bidang Advokasi Serikat Pekerja PT Freeport, Tri Puspital, mengatakan polisi kemudian menembaki kerumunan massa, melukai tiga orang. Kapolda Papua Irjen Boy Rafli Amar menolak berkomentar.
Seorang juru bicara Freeport mengatakan bahwa demonstrasi tersebut tidak berdampak pada operasional pertambangan, walaupun akses karyawan ke tempat kerja telah dibatasi.
"Beberapa truk pengangkut karyawan kami dibatalkan dan belum ada penjadwalan lebih lanjut sampai situasinya kondusif lagi. Kami telah mendesak pekerja kami untuk menghindari hal ini sampai pemberitahuan lebih lanjut," kata juru bicara Freeport Indonesia Riza Pratama.
Perusahaan ini merupakan sumber utama lapangan kerja dan mata pencaharian di Papua seperti dikutip Reuters yang dilansir MailOnline.
HUNDREDS of former workers of Freeport Indonesia clashed with security forces near the company´s mines in the eastern province of Papua on Saturday and three workers were injured, company and union officials said.
The Indonesian unit of U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoran Inc. has been embroiled in a labour dispute since May, when around 5,000 workers went on strike to protest against mass layoffs.
Following export restrictions related to a permit dispute, Freeport furloughed some 3,000 workers in Indonesia earlier this year, which prompted a strike and high levels of absenteeism.
Freeport later deemed that approximately 3,000 full-time and 1,000 contract employees who were absent had "voluntarily resigned".
Police on Saturday fired warning shots in the air to disperse the crowd of ex-workers who were demanding their jobs back, blocking roads and setting trucks on fire.
Union official Tri Puspital said police then fired into the crowd, injuring three people. Papua´s police chief Boy Rafli Amar declined to comment.
A spokesman for the company said the protests have not had an impact on operations, although employee access to worksites was being affected.
"Some of our employee convoys have been cancelled and we will not be scheduling further convoys until the situation is conducive again. We have urged our workers to avoid this area until further notice," said Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama.
The company is a major source of employment and livelihoods in the impoverished eastern-most province of Indonesia.
