Govt firm on no pay for striking workers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Striking workers will not be paid, the
\ngovernment said yesterday, referring to the \"no work no pay\"
\nprinciple stipulated in an International Labor Organization
\nconvention.<\/p>\n
\"If they are paid, then they'll enjoy striking and the dispute
\n(that caused) the strike will drag on and eventually harm the
\nworkers themselves,\" Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief told a
\nHouse of Representatives' plenary session on the manpower bill.<\/p>\n
The session had been arranged for Latief to respond to queries
\nand objections which House members had raised in an earlier
\nsession.<\/p>\n
\"We are encouraging solution through deliberation for every
\nlabor dispute,\" he said. \"No one wants to see workers go on
\nstrike. Here we need to be honest.\"<\/p>\n
\"If workers continue to strike, then the labor organizations
\nwhich told them to strike will have to pay them to strike. This
\nis what happens in other countries,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Legislators had questioned the bill's stipulation on workers'
\nright to strike.<\/p>\n
Latief said the Ministry of Manpower had accommodated several
\nsuggestions to improve the bill which had been put forward by the
\nthree parties and the Armed Forces' faction in the House.<\/p>\n
He said repeatedly, \"If they (objections to the bill) are
\nconsidered substantial, we will discuss them in further
\nmeetings.\"<\/p>\n
Yesterday's session was chaired by Deputy House Speaker Ismail
\nHasan Metareum from the United Development Party (PPP). The other
\nparties are Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).<\/p>\n
The bill's first reading was on June 16.<\/p>\n
After the bill was submitted to the House earlier this year,
\nactivists and others groups criticized it for stifling workers'
\nrights. They said it sought to regulate strikes by stipulating
\nthat authorities must be notified at least three days before
\nindustrial action, and by other means.<\/p>\n
The bill also seeks to allow lockouts by revoking the 1963 Law
\nNo. 7 on the prohibition of strikes and lockouts in companies and
\nstrategic bodies. Comprising 18 chapters and 159 articles, the
\nbill has been drafted as an umbrella law for the 14 labor
\nregulations made between 1887, during the Dutch colonial
\nadministration, and 1969.<\/p>\n
The bill covers labor policies, such as planning, information,
\nplacements and manpower development and relations between workers
\nemployers and government. It affects all workers, including
\nmigrants and those working for informal businesses or nonprofit
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
Latief said there was a need to differentiate between
\n\"strikes\" and \"demonstrations\".<\/p>\n
\"Demonstrations by workers marching to state agencies, legal
\naid offices, the National Commission on Human Rights, the House
\nof Representatives and others places are not regulated in the
\nbill, because they are covered in the law on public order,\"
\nLatief said.<\/p>\n
He insisted that the government had always defended workers
\nwho had gone on strike for their \"normative rights\" such as
\novertime allowances, insurance and leave.<\/p>\n
\"But in reality many strikes had not occurred because workers'
\nnormative rights had not been met,\" he said. \"Let's all work to
\nfind a suitable formulation in order to guarantee justice for
\nall.\"<\/p>\n
Representatives of several non-governmental organizations met
\nGolkar legislators yesterday to ask the House to drop the
\nmanpower bill.<\/p>\n
The 14 NGOs in the Commission of Labor Law and the Group of
\nWomen for Justice for Labor were led by labor activist Teten
\nMasduki. He said the bill did not seek to improve workers'
\nwelfare.<\/p>\n
In a 21-page statement, the activists cited 14 shortcomings of
\nthe bill, including the \"assumption that workers are a dangerous
\ngroup that pose potential threats to economic development and
\nnational stability\".<\/p>\n
Golkar legislator Achmad Marzuki said his party agreed with
\nthe activists and would use their criticism in its search for
\nalternatives. (05\/swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-firm-on-no-pay-for-striking-workers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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