Text version of the Militant, a socialist newspaper  
the Militant, a socialist newspaper
about this site directory of local distributors how to subscribe submit a photo or image order bundles of the Militant to sell
news articles editorials columns contact us search view back issues
The Militant this week
IN SPANISH
El Militante
IN FRENCH
Le Militant
FRONT PAGE ARTICLES
Bosses’ disregard for safety kills 28 miners in Indonesia
Hundreds in Papua province block roads in protest
 
Obama says end ‘war on terror,’ backs secrecy, drones, press gags
 
Response from workers keeps subscription drive on time
 
Decades of Cuban rightists’ attacks hit revolution’s backers in US, Puerto Rico
Fight continues to unearth truth about murder of Carlos Muñiz
 
UK rulers seize on Islamist jihadist killing to target rights of workers
FEATURE ARTICLES
Join fight to free the Cuban Five!
Record of Militant Fightning Fund
Click here for the record
FORUMS
CALENDAR
EL MILITANTE
SUBMIT LETTER TO THE EDITOR
SUBMIT FORUM
SUBMIT TO CALENDAR

A socialist newsweekly published in the interests of working people
Vol. 77/No. 22      June 10, 2013

 

SPECIAL EVENTS
Click here for Militant Labor Forums or for Calendar Events


(lead article)
Bosses’ disregard for safety
kills 28 miners in Indonesia
Hundreds in Papua province block roads in protest
 
Reuters
Workers from Freeport-McMoRan Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua, Indonesia, block road leading to mine May 15 after bosses’ disregard for safety led to tunnel collapse killing 28.

BY LINDA HARRIS  
SYDNEY — Twenty-eight miners were killed by bosses’ disregard for safety following the collapse of a tunnel May 14 at the giant U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua, the easternmost province of Indonesia. Ten miners survived.

Hundreds of miners blocked the road leading to the mine after the collapse, demanding safer working conditions. Freeport workers from seven Papuan tribes set up a tent outside the tunnel.

“We do not accept the owner and government’s speculation that the incident was a ‘natural disaster,”’ union spokesperson Virgo Solossa said in a May 27 interview. “We think the collapse resulted from poor safety standards.”

The tunnel was part of the Big Gossan underground facility, where the 38 miners were training. The rescue operation being carried out by local police and the Indonesian military has been slow, hampered in part by the t ight space. PT Freeport Indonesia, the local subsidiary that operates the mine, has suspended some operations.

“The mine owner and government say areas not affected by the collapse can resume,” Solossa said. “We are very angry because we think production will hamper the investigation and we — the workers at the mine and the family of the lost miners — need an explanation.”

The Grasberg mine, which employs 24,000 workers, is the second-largest copper mine in the world and has the world’s largest reserves of gold. Eleven workers have been killed in landslides at the open-cut mine since 2003.

The Indonesian government has a 9 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia, which expects a major increase in sales this year. Mining accounts for 12 percent of the economy in Indonesia, but little of the wealth created by workers at the Grasberg mine stays in Papua.

The mine has been a target of protest in this province, where the Papuan people have a long history of struggle for self-determination against oppressive rule by the Indonesian government.

Eleven people were killed in clashes with the police during a three-month strike at the mine in 2011. The strike by 8,000 union workers crippled production and ended in a victory when management agreed to a 37 percent wage increase over two years.

Workers who joined the strike last year still face harassment and discrimination, Solossa told Reuters April 17, explaining that the company and its contractors are trying to weaken the union.

Some 1,130 workers employed by three contracting companies at Freeport ended a three-day strike at the beginning of May this year, after winning an agreement for a pay raise.

Baskaran Appu from Auckland, New Zealand, contributed to this article.


 
 
Related articles:
On the Picket Line
In coming class battles, ‘keep eyes on the ranks of labor’

Printer logo 
Printer-friendly version of this article


 
 
 
 
Home | Text-version home