Over six hundred employees of Taiwanese Overseas Mining Corporation in Zamboanga Sibugay have launched a strike over alleged non-payment of their salaries.

 

Attorney Wilter Palma, mayor of Diplahan town in Zamboanga Sibugay,  said the employees have not been paid their salaries by the mining firm since the month of August. The amount of back wages has purportedly reached P10-15 million.

 

The employees,  through Palma, said they do not understand why the mining firm has to delay the payment of their salaries. They said the coal production operation in the area has been doing well.

 

Palma said the average monthly coal production that the mining firm has been producing reaches up to 9,000 tons.

 

The employees’ strike totally paralyzed the operation of the mining firm in the area since Monday.

 

The regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment has been informed about the wage problem in the company, but until now the issue remain unresolved.

 

Palma has also informed officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) in Manila about the problem.

 

He said DOE promised to send a team to Diplahan to look into the issue and possibly discuss with company's officials on how to resolve the wage issue.

 

Palma said he is also worried on the possible danger that his constituents might be facing after the workers reportedly abandoned maintenance work particularly in some of the tunnels used in the mining operation.

 

The town executive also said he is anticipating floods in the mining area since the workers have also stop pumping water from the tunnels.