[olympiaworkers] Miners in Indonesia strike

Libcom.org Aug 3 2010

Miners at the Batu Hijau mine on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia are on
strike over unpaid overtime pay, with the union claiming that the strike
is likely to last until the 10th of August.

The strike follows legal wrangling over the company's attempts to withhold
overtime pay owed to 1,919 of its employees. In July, the West Nusa
Tenggara provincial office of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry
ordered PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, the company which owns the mine, to pay
$13.8 million in overtime payments, some of which is owing since 2008. The
strike began at midnight following the company announcing its plans to
pursue a legal challenge against the ruling.

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara is owned by American giants Newmont Mining Co.,
the largest gold producer in the U.S. The mine is Indonesia's second
largest copper mine, and employs over 7,000 people. The company is no
stranger to controversy, particuarly over its environmental record, which
includes dumping waste from the mine into the sea and the rainforest.