Thousands of workers from Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) have vowed not to call off their strike and will instead extend it to a second month from May 1 to 30, 2017. The workers are protesting layoffs and furloughs and negotiations between their union and the company’s management have reached a dead end. The dispute has cost both the Freeport and the Grasberg mine in Papua hundreds of millions of dollars as workers continue threatening to disrupt the mine’s operations.
The union is demanding an end to Freeport’s furlough policy
The stoppage of operations in the mine started on May 1. Head of the organization unit at the Chemical, Energy and Mining Workers Union (SP-KEP), Yafet Panggala says that they have been waiting to hear from company’s good faith but nothing seems to come forth. The union is seeking a reinstatement of laid-off workers including those employed by contractors.
As the government calls for an accelerated resolution of the matter, Panggala notes, “The strike is not our goal, but it’s a mean of our struggle. So, there should not be an allegation saying that we want to go on strike all the time. It’s not like that.”
Huge impact of the strike
The strike coincided with the International Workers Day. It also came at a time when the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer was getting into mining and milling operations. The open-pit mine has been producing around 38,000 metric tons of ore a day as a result of the strike and it is likely that this will reduce further if the dispute is not resolved. a spokesman at Freeport’s Indonesian unit has also revealed that the concentrating mill has been operating at a lower rate.
The dispute had earlier occasioned the ban of concentrate exports from the mine, but operations resumed in April. Nonetheless, chief executive officer of Freeport, Richard Adkerson says that the talks with the government over the company’s long-term status of operations are encouraging. He further outlined optimism in reaching a comprehensive solution.
In the meantime, Freeport’s stock was trading at $11.73 witnessing an crease of $0.44 or 3.90%.
