"We all know that the workers strike started on September 15 at 00:00 eastern Indonesia standard time (WIT). And we decided not to pay them, no work, no pay," he said here on Saturday night.
On Thursday (Sept. 15), thousands of Freeport employees left the mining site of Tembagapura for Timika to begin a one month strike to demand a salary rise.
Mahler also explained that the salaries of PT Freeport`s workers who launched a strike in last July were paid because they promised to resume working.
"It (salary) was paid only based on the company`s good intention. But in the second strike, we warned them not to pay their wages if they stopped working," Mahler disclosed.
Previously, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Saleh said the ongoing strike at PT Freeport was causing a potential loss of 19 million US dollars per day to the US gold and copper mining company in Papua.
"The 19 million US dollar potential loss is sustained by unrealized daily sales," the minister said at a press conference here on Friday.
In addition, the Indonesian government also lost an estimated 6.7 million US dollars per day, he said.
Freeport produces 230,000 tons of copper concentrates daily. The concentrates besides copper, also contained gold and silver.
Minister Darwin and the ministry`s Director General of Minerals and Coal Thamrin Sihite flew to Papua immediately after the press conference.
The minister expressed optimism that the manpower and transmigration ministry would be able to help solve the problem that caused the workers strike. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
