Para karyawan Freeport telah memberikan teladan sangat berharga dan brilian
karena tidak saja berhasil menggolkan tuntutan secara damai, namun terutama
dalam mengayun langkah pertama dalam sebuah perjuangan seperti yang sedang
ramai dan sinambung dijalankan oleh Chavez, Morales, Correa (Equador) dan
sebagainya untuk mengubah kontrak-kontrak kerja dengan para perusahaan raksasa
multinasional yang akan menguntungkan kepentingan bangsa.
Kita harapkan dan dambakan agar sodara-sodara kita di Papua jangan akan
merasa puas diri dan lalu lengah dalam perjuangannya, karena zaman ini sangat
marak dengan serangan neoliberalistik diseluruh dunia. kemenangan yag diraih
hari ini dapat saja sirna besok lusa, kalau tidak diperkuat dan terus
dikembangkan.
Kita simak bahwa Freeport menerima tuntutan bukan samasekali karena berbaik
hati, namun tentu mulai merasa khawatir bila aksi-aksi semacam akan menjalar
diseluruh Indonesia sebagai yang telah dan sedang terjadi di Amerika Latin.
Aksi dan hasil dari gerakan damai sodara-sodara kita itu adalah Hadiah 1 Mei
2007
pertama yang juga kabar baik bagi seluruh lapisan masyarakat di Indonesia
yang di marjinalkan oleh modal asing dan para pembantunya.
Demi keberhasilannya yang permanen, gerakan ini sangat perlu solidaritas
nasional dan juga global, karena yang dihadapi juga kekuatan modal global.
DM
Sunny <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070424.E01&irec=0
Freeport strike
The local workers of giant gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia in
Timika, Papua, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Freeport McMoran, taught the nation,
including their fellow Papuans and the country's businesspeople and laborers, a
precious lesson last week.
Even Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who had just expressed his displeasure over
the trend of labor demonstrations, probably had to swallow his words because
the workers in Papua proved that peaceful actions can achieve much. The
lesson is even more interesting because it came out of Timika, a city with a
history of violent demonstrations. Thousands of Freeport workers won nearly
everything they were asking for on Saturday morning, after a four-day peaceful
walkout. The strike, the biggest since the company started to operate in the
early 1970s, certainly cost the state a huge amount, in terms of lost potential
revenue. In the end, Freeport agreed to raise the workers' monthly basic
salary from Rp 1.6 million (US$174) to Rp 3.1 million, Rp 500,000 less than
they were demanding. The company also agreed to reestablish its Papuan Affairs
Department and replace several executives who the workers saw as reluctant to
deal with Papuan employees. It is rare in Indonesia for a
major company to respond so generously and promptly to the demands of workers.
For this, the world's largest gold producer and second largest copper producer
deserves commendation. We believe Freeport's decision was not just caused by
fears of falling production. Perhaps the company was more willing to listen and
negotiate because for the first time, employees staged a strike that was
peaceful. There is a perception nationally, and even internationally, that
Freeport prefers the use of power in handling unrest and protest. At the same
time there is the perception that Indonesian workers, including those at
Freeport, tend to resort to violence in seeking more money or better working
conditions. Freeport workers finally realized they are an important part of
the company, and that they must grow together. They certainly do not want to
follow the orders of outside parties who are more concerned with their own
interests than the well-being of the workers. And Freeport
seems to have finally understood that in the end, the prosperity and security
of its workers is key to its own growth and sustainability. In the past, the
military and police were often used to clamp down on protests against the
company. The use of force may be effective and cheap in the short run, but it
costs Freeport dearly in the long run. Freeport is a magnet not just for
Papuans but also the country's political elite who want to mine profits from
the company. Last year alone Freeport paid US$1.6 billion in taxes to the
government, a 33 percent rise from 2005. Freeport produced 435 million pounds
of copper in the fourth quarter of last year and 514,000 ounces of gold, the
company announced in January. It employs about 9,000 workers, including 3,000
Papuans. Although the number of Papuan employees has steadily increased,
Papuans complain very few of them ever rise to management positions. Human
rights abuses, the unequal distribution of wealth and the
disrespect shown by the central government toward Papuans are among the major
complaints in the province. That the region is to any extent rebellious is
because Papuans feel they are treated like second-class citizens, kept in
poverty despite the abundance of natural resources in their home province.
Freeport employees have shown that a peaceful and civilized approach can be
very effective, while the company sent the message that it is ready to change
for the better. The workers' demands were not just about financial welfare, but
a guarantee for a sustainable future. Both sides deserve praise for teaching
the rest of the country such a golden lesso
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