The invisible costs<\/p>\n
Rosidah, 30, a female worker at a shoe factory in Bogor, West
\nJava, reportedly had a miscarriage last month after the company's
\nexecutives punished her by making her stand in the hot sun in the
\nfactory compound because she had been absent from work several
\ndays earlier. The worker, who was then two months pregnant, was
\nfurther humiliated by being required to hold up a placard bearing
\nthe words, \"I skipped work yesterday.\"<\/p>\n
The incident was reported to the police by her fellow workers
\nwho claimed that such unorthodox means of punishment had been
\nenforced by the company for some time.<\/p>\n
At first, Rosidah herself was reluctant to file a complaint
\nfor fear of losing her job. The four fellow workers, who had
\nreported Rosidah's case, were later sacked by the company without
\nany severance pay. The management of the company has refused to
\ncomment on the matter.<\/p>\n
We bring up the story of this incident in light of the new
\nmandatory minimum wage scheme to be enforced by the government in
\nApril as an illustration of the state of our labor situation in
\ngeneral. The new ruling, decreed by Minister of Manpower Abdul
\nLatief last week, will raise minimum wage levels by between 10
\npercent and 35 percent in most of the provinces. Thus, in Jakarta
\nfor example, the minimum daily wage will be raised from Rp 3,800
\nto Rp 4,600.<\/p>\n
Many businessmen were quick to grumble that the new system
\nwill surely raise production costs which, they claim, will
\nsubsequently cut Indonesia's competitiveness as a country
\noffering cheap labor to investors. Many workers have responded
\njust as skeptically. They complain that the hikes are barely
\nsufficient to cover the impact of the runaway cost of living on
\ntheir meager incomes.<\/p>\n
While the difficult situation and poor conditions of the
\nmajority of our workers prevails, and the controversy over the
\nnew minimum wage scheme continues, an interesting fact suddenly
\nhas come to the light. Several businessmen acknowledged that they
\nare unable to raise their workers' wages because they have to
\nspend between 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of running
\ntheir businesses to pay illegal fees and bribes. This is really
\nquite a large proportion of production costs as compared to only
\nseven percent for paying for workers' salaries and allowances.<\/p>\n
What those businessmen revealed is actually not news. Anybody
\nwho has done business in this country knows how rampant the
\ncorruption here is. Any license or permit has to pass through
\ninnumerable hands, with each and every one demanding a certain
\namount of \"levies\" for their own pockets. Sadly speaking, many
\ndisregard this common practice of invisible costs as an
\nunimportant petty offense and blame the meager salaries of the
\ncivil servants as an excuse.<\/p>\n
But, we believe that the proportion of these invisible costs
\nhas reached a dangerous level. Things have gotten entirely out of
\nhand, resulting in a high cost economy and causing nationwide
\nmoral decay. This practice has caused the world to view Indonesia
\nas a corruption riddled country, a liability in the eyes of many
\nforeign investors.<\/p>\n
But, as is the case with many \"customs\" in this country, it is
\nalways difficult to prove the existence of these invisible costs.
\nGovernment officials always insist that there should be
\nsufficient concrete evidence before any case can be brought to
\ncourt. Although of late some businessmen have said that they are
\nready to disclose documented cases of bribery, provided the
\ngovernment guarantees the anonymity of the victims, we are
\nsomewhat skeptical that any of this will make it into legal
\nprocessing.<\/p>\n
Because anyone can easily see that what we lack is a real
\npolitical will to eradicate this societal disease. And since this
\nproblem is structural in nature and so widespread is the disease,
\none cannot be blamed for assuming that only some drastic measures
\ntaken by somebody at the top will prove to be effective therapy.<\/p>\n
Yet, it does not mean that we all should lose hope. There are
\nsufficient indications that the government, spearheaded by
\nMinister Latief, who has the full support of President Soeharto,
\nis really sincere in striving to improve our workers' standards
\nof living. Our workforce deserves to share the development pie.<\/p>\n
Who knows, maybe what is next in line will be a program to
\neradicate the bureaucratic red tape and invisible costs in
\nsupport of our pledge to form a free trade area in the Asia
\nPacific region by the year of 2020. With ever fiercer competition
\nfrom countries like China, Vietnam and India for the funds of
\nforeign investors, we have no other choice but to combat the
\ncauses of our high cost economy.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, in the meantime, millions of workers like
\nRosidah can do nothing but wait and hope.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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