JAKARTA - A total of 735 employees of PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (NHM) continue to wait for the goodwill of Newcrest Mining Limited to carry out the legal decision which has become a permanent legal force (inkrah).
For information, the Australian mining company, which has now been acquired by Newmont Corporation, is required to immediately fulfill its obligations to pay the rights of workers who have been neglected since the divestment process in 2020.
The Legal Representative of the Workers' Union of PT NHM, Iksan Maujud, emphasized that this issue started from the abandonment of Article 67 of the Collective Labor Agreement (PKB) of PT NHM.
In this clause, employers are required to settle workers' rights including severance pay, separation pay, and service pay and if there is a change in legal entity, merger, or acquisition.
According to Iksan, the acquisition process of PT NHM by PT Indotan from Newcrest Mining Limited on March 5, 2020 left a big question.
"The inherent rights of workers are deliberately ignored. In fact, Article 67 of the PKB explicitly states that employers must settle workers' rights as stipulated in the Manpower Law," Iksan said in a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 29.
He added that before the acquisition, the trade union had repeatedly tried to take the path of dialogue through various meetings in Jakarta, Surabaya, to Makassar. However, Newcrest was considered not to have a commitment and actually left its obligations when it left Halmahera.
"If Newcrest is cooperative and respects the law in this Republic, employees do not need to fight to the cassation level. They have scooped up millions of tons of wealth from Halmahera land, but when they leave, workers' rights are simply abandoned," he said.
Iksan also highlighted the technical risks that had threatened the Gosowong gold mine during the transition period. As an underground mine, neglecting workers could have fatal consequences on operations.
"If at that time employees choose to leave because the working relationship is not clear, the mine will be filled with water. The risk of accidents can be 1,000 times higher. Fortunately, the new management gave encouragement and appreciation so that operations continued," explained Iksan.
After going through a long process at the Ternate Industrial Relations Court (PHI) to the cassation level at the Supreme Court, the court consistently won the workers. The ruling stated that Newcrest was jointly and severally liable for the neglected labor rights.
"The Supreme Court has strengthened the ruling that the termination of employment occurred since March 5, 2020, and the rights must be paid. Strangely, the Newcrest party claims that it has not received the ruling, although the e-court system allows immediate access," added Iksan.
On the same occasion, the Chairman of the PUK SPKEP SPSI PT NHM, Rusli Abdullah Gailea, expressed the deep disappointment of the employees. He assessed that Newcrest's attitude was a bad example of investment practices in the Indonesian natural resources sector.
"Our hope is that no more investors will come to invest in our country, then leave just like this. This is very detrimental to our future regeneration," said Rusli.
Rusli also urged the government to be more selective in monitoring the profile of multinational investors operating in the country.
"We ask the government that in the future investors who enter Indonesia are carefully selected and closely monitored. They must follow the procedures and laws of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia that apply, so that when they leave, there are no more workers' rights left behind," he concluded.
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