... but whose interests does it really serve?<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Labor activists aren't all that impressed by the
\nperformance of the Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor
\nDisputes (P4P) in defending the rights of workers.<\/p>\n
Arist Merdeka Sirait of the Social Information and Legal
\nGuidance Foundation says turning to the committee for help is a
\nwaste of time and money because many of its decisions favor
\nemployers.<\/p>\n
\"The committee has frequently made unfair decisions. This
\nshows that the government officials tend to side with the
\nmanagement,\" Arist said of the committee that consists of
\nrepresentatives of employers, workers union and the government.<\/p>\n
\"I fear the employers and government officials are in
\ncollusion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The P4P is also slow, Arist said, underlining that he had
\nclients whose cases took years to settle at the committee.<\/p>\n
Arist is no stranger to the committee's work and rulings.<\/p>\n
Last year, he represented workers in 137 disputes brought to
\nthe committee. He lost in 85 cases. In 14 of the 28 cases he won,
\nthe employers have simply ignored the committee's rulings.<\/p>\n
Out of frustration, last week Arist tried to circumvent the
\ncommittee and took his case directly to the Ministry of Manpower.<\/p>\n
He organized 50 workers representing about 10,000 of their
\ncolleagues in 14 factories in Jakarta and surrounding towns who
\nhave been dismissed.<\/p>\n
The dismissals, he said, did not have the approval of the P4P.<\/p>\n
William Bokha of the All Indonesian Workers Union said the
\ntime has come to change the legal basis of the committee to make
\nit more independent.<\/p>\n
He would like the committee to have more of a bite to ensure
\ncompliance with its rulings, because many employers have simply
\nignored the decisions and went unpunished.<\/p>\n
Most workers could not afford to raise the money to seek a
\ncourt order to execute the rulings, Bokha said.<\/p>\n
The Association of Indonesian Employers is not complaining too
\nmuch about P4P's performance.<\/p>\n
The Association's executive director Hadi Topobroto said the
\nproblem lies with employers and labor unions for their failure to
\nresolve the problem internally.<\/p>\n
The majority of labor disputes could be solved without a third
\nparty mediating if both sides truly understood the labor laws,
\nsaid Hadi, who also seats on the P4P committee. (rms)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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