Employers told to treat workers better<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja urged city employers
\nyesterday to treat their workers better by providing safer
\nfacilities and creating a more democratic environment in the
\nworkplace.<\/p>\n
Quoting the findings of a city administration and University
\nof Indonesia's joint research project, City Workers' Problems,
\nSurjadi said there were six factors that could lead to conflicts
\nbetween employers and workers.<\/p>\n
\"They are: the minimum wage, workers' demands for an increase,
\novertime fees, doing overtime, incompatible worker-employer
\nrelationships and the lack of freedom to pursue their career or
\neducation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
If employers could pay extra attention to these six factors,
\nstrikes or worker-employer conflicts could be sharply reduced,
\nSurjadi told a seminar on manpower here.<\/p>\n
\"In the past six years there have been 441 strikes recorded in
\nthe city,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Strikes can have a serious economic and political impact,
\nwhich, in turn, can disturb national stability because the
\nworkers become their employers' opponent.<\/p>\n
\"That is why the government always gives serious attention to
\nthe manpower issue.<\/p>\n
\"The administration plays an important political role by
\nmanaging the workers' organization and intervening in conflicts.\"<\/p>\n
The industrial relations between employers and workers is a
\nvery sensitive matter that potentially could create social
\nunrest, he said.<\/p>\n
\"That is why, the employer must start to listen to the
\nworkers' needs instead of just exploiting them.\"<\/p>\n
Once an open channel of communication has been established,
\nthe government, the employers and the workers can build a better
\nunderstanding, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Employers can convey their aspirations through related
\nbodies, such as the local chamber of commerce, and the workers
\nthrough their labor unions,\" he said. \"And the government --
\nthrough bureaucracy -- can help consolidate all the disputes.\"<\/p>\n
The head of the city's Manpower Agency, R.D. Sudhartin, said
\nthat Jakarta has managed to hold welfare training for employers
\nfrom 500 big companies here.<\/p>\n
\"There are currently 24,000 corporations in Jakarta. We can't
\npossibly train all of their employers at once but step by step we
\ncan,\" Sudhartin said.<\/p>\n
Governor Surjadi has previously expressed his concerns
\nregarding workers' lack of skills and knowledge.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, construction workers are unaware of the risks
\nof their work. They usually do not wear any safety belts or
\nhelmets and they are often involved in fatal accidents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Surjadi once said that Indonesians had a tendency not to
\nrespect their life and cases of dead workers had become
\ncommonplace.<\/p>\n
\"That is why employers must improve their workers' habits to
\nensure they obey safety rules,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But it has to work both ways.<\/p>\n
\"If the employers just want to make bigger profits without
\nthinking about their workers then there will always be strikes,\"
\nhe said. (07)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/employers-told-to-treat-workers-better-1447893297",
"image": ""
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