Shooting kills one at mine demo
Source: Agencies |
October 11, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
INDONESIAN security forces fired on strikers, killing one and injuring more than a dozen, at Freeport-McMoran's gold and copper mine yesterday.
Two trucks heading to the mining town from a nearby port were set on fire by strikers angry after learning the Phoenix-based company was bringing in replacement workers and moving them into their barracks.
Smoke from the protest resulted in flight delays at a nearby airport.
Workers at the Grasberg mine in eastern Papua province went on strike last month, demanding their pay be increased from US$2.10 to US$3.50 an hour to between US$17.50 and US$43 an hour.
About 90 percent of the mine's 12,000 employees are on strike.
Grasberg is one of the world's largest and most lucrative gold and copper mines, but has frequently been the subject of protests over wages that workers complain are a 10th of what Freeport pays miners in other countries.
The company - which has come under fire for paying millions of dollars to Indonesian military and police to handle security - has also been accused of pollution and unfair distribution of profits.
Union leader Manuel Maniambo said thousands of strikers were trying to prevent replacement workers reaching the mine by bus. Others were upset after hearing their barracks, with their belongings still inside, had been taken over.
When blocked by security forces, strikers threw rocks and yelled insults. The troops responded with gunfire, killing one worker and leaving another in a critical condition, said Maniambo.
A Papua police spokesman said security forces had no choice but to fire after protesters became violent.
Two trucks heading to the mining town from a nearby port were set on fire by strikers angry after learning the Phoenix-based company was bringing in replacement workers and moving them into their barracks.
Smoke from the protest resulted in flight delays at a nearby airport.
Workers at the Grasberg mine in eastern Papua province went on strike last month, demanding their pay be increased from US$2.10 to US$3.50 an hour to between US$17.50 and US$43 an hour.
About 90 percent of the mine's 12,000 employees are on strike.
Grasberg is one of the world's largest and most lucrative gold and copper mines, but has frequently been the subject of protests over wages that workers complain are a 10th of what Freeport pays miners in other countries.
The company - which has come under fire for paying millions of dollars to Indonesian military and police to handle security - has also been accused of pollution and unfair distribution of profits.
Union leader Manuel Maniambo said thousands of strikers were trying to prevent replacement workers reaching the mine by bus. Others were upset after hearing their barracks, with their belongings still inside, had been taken over.
When blocked by security forces, strikers threw rocks and yelled insults. The troops responded with gunfire, killing one worker and leaving another in a critical condition, said Maniambo.
A Papua police spokesman said security forces had no choice but to fire after protesters became violent.
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