Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Thousands of mine workers in Indonesia's remote Papua province on Sunday returned to work after a subsidiary of US firm Freeport McMoRan agreed to salary and benefit demands, a labour activist said.
"We finally reached an agreement last night at around 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) and today all workers who are on shift have returned to work," said Penina arma, the secretary general of Tongi Papua, a non-governmental organisation involved in the three-day protest and the negotiations.
More than 2,000 workers from the giant gold and copper Grasberg mine started protesting peacefully Tuesday at the headquarters of PT Freeport Indonesia, which operates the mine, just outside the town of Timika.
The protracted dispute centres on demands for higher wages, improved welfare, and better access to higher-level jobs for Papuan workers.
The rally helped push world copper prices to 8,000 dollars a tonne amid concerns disruptions could lead to a drop in stockpiles of the metal.
Karma said that the agreement had been reached with the executives of Freeport Indonesia and there was no reason to take the dispute further.
The protestors had initially demanded a teleconference with Freeport McMoRan executives in the United States.
Mine workers had demanded a minimum monthly wage of at least 3.2 million rupiah (352 dollars). The negotiations finally settled on a range of 3.1 to 3.6 million rupiah, Karma told AFP.
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