RI yet to implement ILO declaration<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has yet to implement the International
\nLabor Organization (ILO) Declaration on fundamental principles of
\nlabor, an official said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"ILO highly respects the Indonesian government for ratifying
\nall the fundamental conventions of the declaration in 1998. This
\nis a signal of Indonesia's political will to adopt the universal
\nrights of workers,\" executive director of the Geneva-based
\nInternational Labor Organization Kari Tapiola said.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesia was the first Asian country to ratify the
\ndeclaration.<\/p>\n
\"However, due to the economic crisis, Indonesia has yet to
\nimplement the principles in the ILO Declaration,\" he told a joint
\nmedia briefing at a three-day seminar on trade unions and the ILO
\nDeclaration.<\/p>\n
Present at the media conference were secretary-general of the
\nASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC) Zainal Rampak and director-
\ngeneral for Industrial Relation and Labor Standard of the
\nMinistry of Manpower and Transmigration Syaufii Syamsuddin.<\/p>\n
The seminar, being held from Wednesday to Friday, is focusing
\non workers' freedom of association and rights to collective
\nbargaining, the elimination of all forced or compulsory labor,
\nthe abolition of child labor, and the elimination of
\ndiscrimination in the workplace.<\/p>\n
Tapiola said the economic crisis which hit the Asian region
\nhad caused some 5 million people to lose their jobs.<\/p>\n
\"The crisis has weakened the bargaining position of workers
\nand labor unions.<\/p>\n
\"It has also weakened small and medium-scale enterprises,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said ILO would provide assistance to Indonesian in
\nestablishing the procedure and legislation needed for the
\nimplementation of the declaration.<\/p>\n
\"However, the problem also lies in the abundance of labor
\nunions in today's reform era, compared to the single labor union
\nduring the New Order regime,\" Tapiola said.<\/p>\n
To date, Indonesia has 35 federated labor unions, 135
\nnonfederated labor unions and more than 11,000 company labor
\nunions.<\/p>\n
\"We do not know if the unions truly represent the workers. But
\nwe are here to help Indonesia make its labor unions more
\neffective,\" Tapiola said.<\/p>\n
He said ILO had studied the different models of labor unions
\nin Asia.<\/p>\n
\"Unfortunately, there was no single model that was fit to be
\napplied here. However, we are committed in helping Indonesia,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Syaufii Syamsuddin said labor strikes were a
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
\"Many workers have tried to use strikes to intimidate their
\nemployers even before any negotiations were made.<\/p>\n
\"They also strike without following procedures stipulated in
\nthe manpower legislation,\" Syaufii said.<\/p>\n
He cited the move taken by employees of Shangri-La Hotel who
\nwent on strike during the recent holiday season of Christmas,
\nIdul Fitri, and New Year.<\/p>\n
\"Staging strikes should be the workers' last resort, after
\nnegotiations with employers fail,\" Syaufii said.<\/p>\n
However, Syaufii said, the ILO convention could not protect
\nIndonesian housemaids working abroad.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian housemaids working in Saudi Arabia are legally
\nunprotected because the Saudi government does not have provisions
\nfor housemaids in its legislation,\" Syaufii said.<\/p>\n
\"Housemaids are considered nonformal workers, compared to
\nformal workers, such as those working in oil production firms,
\nwho are protected by the International manpower regulation,\"
\nSyaufii said.<\/p>\n
Zainal Rampak admitted that in many cases, employers had
\nignored workers' demands.<\/p>\n
\"It's understandable if workers go on strike when their
\ndemands are ignored.<\/p>\n
\"But, we can learn from labor unions in Malaysia and Singapore
\non how to settle disputes with employers,\" Rampak said. (02)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-yet-to-implement-ilo-declaration-1447893297",
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