Moslem workers union reappears<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The newly reformed Federation of Indonesian
\nMoslem Labor Unions (Sarbumusi) has called for the dissolution of
\nthe Corps of Civil Servants (Korpri) and the association of civil
\nservants' wives (Dharma Wanita) to allow its members to join
\nunions of their own choice.<\/p>\n
The federation's deputy chairman, Abdy S. Kusumanegara, said
\nthe two organizations should be dissolved because they were
\ndesigned to support the New Order regime and not to protect the
\ninterests of their own members.<\/p>\n
\"The two organizations are no longer valid because their
\nmembers are forced to join the ruling Golkar (political group).
\nIf the government wants to be fair and consistent, civil servants
\nshould be allowed to be politically neutral,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He alleged the two organizations were to blame for rampant
\ncorruption, collusion and nepotism in the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
He said civil servants and the employees of state-owned
\ncompanies should be free to set up their own unions or join
\nexisting industrial organizations to protect their interests.<\/p>\n
\"The government should be consistent with the 1998
\nPresidential Decree on the ratification of ILO Convention No. 87,
\nwhich guarantees the right of workers, including civil servants,
\nto join a union,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that his organization would intensify its campaign for
\nsupport in government departments and state-owned firms.<\/p>\n
Sarbumusi, which came into being in the Tulangan sugar factory
\nin Sidoarjo, East Java, on Sept. 27, 1955, was fused with many
\nother unions into the government-sponsored Federation of
\nIndonesian Workers Union in 1973.<\/p>\n
Sutanto Martoprasono, the federation's chairman, said the
\nunion had been resuscitated because of the poor record of the
\nFederation of All Indonesian Workers Union (FSPSI) in bettering
\nthe lot of the country's workers.<\/p>\n
\"FSPSI lost support because it proved unable to accomplish its
\nmission of protecting workers' interests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The organization has provincial chapters in Java, Sumatra and
\nKalimantan, 35 regency-level branches and units in 150 companies
\nin the three regions.<\/p>\n
Sutanto also called on the government and the House of
\nRepresentatives to lift the 1997 labor law, which is currently
\nbeing revised, because it does not guarantee workers' rights<\/p>\n
\"The law was made by the New Order regime to assist its
\ncapitalist economic system which was supported by cheap labor,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He also said the law gave the government too many
\nopportunities to exert control over workers. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/moslem-workers-union-reappears-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}