Fahmi says required membership in Korpri a thing of the past<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Civil Servants Corp (Korpri)
\nchanged its status to a labor union two months ago, with
\nmembership now optional among civil servants, Minister of
\nManpower Fahmi Idris said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Speaking after meeting President B.J. Habibie at Merdeka
\nPalace, he said civil servants were free to set up their own
\nunion as a consequence of the government's ratification of the
\nInternational Labor Organization (ILO) convention on freedom of
\nassociation last year.<\/p>\n
Korpri's 11 million members include employees of state-run
\nfirms. Membership was formerly mandatory.<\/p>\n
\"There are already eight state companies which employees have
\nregistered to form their own labor unions,\" Fahmi said.<\/p>\n
He said he issued a ministerial decree to follow up the
\nratification, which took place a month after Habibie replaced
\nSoeharto in May 1998.<\/p>\n
\"Now Korpri is just like other labor unions,\" said Fahmi.<\/p>\n
Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus disbanded
\nKorpri at his ministry this month, saying the official civil
\nservant corps was of no use.<\/p>\n
Employees have complained that obligations include payment of
\nleast Rp 500 monthly, in addition to other fees.<\/p>\n
Yunus, who has become known for his strong support of press
\nfreedom, said the decision to dissolve the organization was based
\non the decision of the Korpri members themselves, who unanimously
\nvoted against the presence of the organization.<\/p>\n
Korpri chairman Feisal Tamin was upset and said any civil
\nservant who quit Korpri could be regarded as having quitting the
\ncivil service. Yunus said civil servants were appointed by the
\ngovernment, not by Korpri.<\/p>\n
Politicians and even state officials have admitted Korpri's
\nmain function during New Order regime was to serve as Golkar's
\npolitical tool. There was an understood \"obligation\" for its
\nmembers, along with their relatives, to vote for Golkar.<\/p>\n
Also relied upon to boost Golkar votes were members of the
\ncompulsory organization for civil servants' wives, Dharma Wanita,
\nwhose existence also has come in for criticism.<\/p>\n
In the recent elections, civil servants were no longer obliged
\nto vote for Golkar and ballots were not cast in offices. In the
\npast, civil servants said voting in the workplace assured that if
\nthey would be discovered if they voted for a party other than
\nGolkar.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso is among officials who have felt the
\nimpact of the newfound freedom of employees of state-owned
\ncompanies. A new labor union at city-owned water company PDAM
\nJaya has held a string of protests demanding the company revoke
\nthe allegedly corrupt cooperation agreement with two foreign
\nfirms.(prb)<\/p>",
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