JP\/4\/4LABOR<\/p>\n
Minister pledges speedy labor dispute settlement<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
To rectify past mistakes when resolution of labor disputes could
\ntake years to complete, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
\nJacob Nuwa Wea vowed on Thursday that the bill on industrial
\ndispute settlement currently being deliberated by the House of
\nRepresentatives would produce a speedy outcome.<\/p>\n
Nuwa Wea said that there was no way the current labor dispute
\nsettlement process could be maintained due to the many
\nshortcomings in the existing regulations and corrupt officials.<\/p>\n
Under the current mechanism, the process could take up to six
\nyears before any legal decision was produced. Judges who sit on
\nthe committee are also reportedly notorious for extorting
\nemployers who are implicated in disputes with their workers.<\/p>\n
The minister said that under the new law, industrial disputes
\non dismissals could be settled first through a bipartite forum.
\nHowever, if no resolution was reached, a mediator or councillor
\ncould be brought in within 40 days.<\/p>\n
"If it fails, the dispute could be brought to the labor court
\nand a verdict has to be issued after 50 working days," Nuwa Wea
\ntold a seminar on labor dispute settlement.<\/p>\n
He was quick to add that an appeal could be made no later than
\n14 days after the verdict was issued.<\/p>\n
The government and the House are currently deliberating a bill
\non the settlement of labor disputes that will replace the
\nregional and central committees with an ad-hoc labor court. The
\nbill is to replace Laws No. 12\/1964 and No. 22\/1957 on the
\nsettlement of industrial disputes.<\/p>\n
The DPR is expected to endorse the bill on Sept. 23 during its
\nplenary session.<\/p>\n
After the demise of the authoritarian regime of president
\nSoeharto, infamous for suppressing labor movements, workers began
\nto better organize themselves through unions. the strengthening
\nof the trade unions has at times increased tensions between
\nemployers and workers.<\/p>\n
A report from the manpower ministry in 2002 recorded 220 labor
\nstrikes, a rise from 194 the previous year.<\/p>\n
The director of the Jakarta Office of the International Labor
\nOrganization (ILO), Alan Boulton, shared the minister's view,
\nsaying that the committees for dispute resolution which operate
\nat the national and provincial level were no longer effective and
\nin urgent need of reform and replacement.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesia needed to develop sound and effective
\nmechanisms to resolve industrial disputes cheaply, quickly and
\nfairly.<\/p>\n
"However, it is up to the Indonesian government on how to go
\nabout doing this and what shape the system should be," he told
\nThe Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the seminar.<\/p>\n
He said that after the endorsement of the bill the government
\nmust prepare a real and workable labor court.<\/p>\n
"The government will have to single out judges that have
\nintegrity and make sure that they are all well paid," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp44labor-1447899208",
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