Ok Tedi strike into 2nd day
By ANTON HUAFOLO
OK TEDI mine remained shut yesterday as national employees, who make up 96% of the workforce, stayed away from work for a second day in protest over a pay increase.
According to sources in the mining township of Tabubil, the remaining 4%, mainly expatriate workers, were the only ones who turned up for work yesterday.
The mine pit and mill remained closed for a second full day, costing the mine a total production loss of 6,000 tonnes of copper concentrate and possibly losses in millions of kina.
Industrial Registrar Helen Saleu and a senior member of her staff flew into Tabubil to bring the Ok Tedi Mining and Allied Workers Union executives and the Ok Tedi Mining Ltd management to a roundtable discussion to find a resolution to the dispute.
Employees, when contacted, said they are definitely looking at a favourable outcome from the discussions that took place.
“We are waiting for them to come out and let us know what the outcome is. If the outcome is unfavourable, be assured that we will be staying away from work tomorrow (today),” one of the employees said.
The strike action was taken after union members were informed that only certain national staff, mainly in the technical services department, were given 100% pay increase.
Union members said this was unfair and have called on OTML management to implement an all-across-the-board significant pay increase for all national employees.
However, PNG engineers at the mine, when contacted, said they did not receive any pay increases.
“We have not received a 100% pay increase … that is incorrect … the union has been misled,” one of the engineers said.
The engineers alleged that a national general manager late last year e-mailed a memo to former Ok Tedi national employees in Australia and informed them that engineers at Ok Tedi would be receiving on Dec 1, 2007 an 100% pay increase and they will then be paid in Australian dollars starting from January this year.
“The workers in Australia started forwarding this memo to other PNG mining professionals in Australia and the e-mail was then forwarded back to us and to other departments in Ok Tedi,” one of the engineers said.
“The national GM misinformed those in Australia and that is where the mix-up is,” he said.
According to sources, issues such as non-payment of production bonuses in late February was also a contributing factor to the current strike action by employees.
PNG employees last year received K14,000 each as production bonus for 2006, and they expected an even bigger bonus in February this year for a better mine performance in 2007.
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