Wooing the votes of 94 million workers in the general elections<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Millions have lost jobs and careers, many more
\nfear the same. What pledge would a workers' party dare make?<\/p>\n
Political parties, including labor parties, face tough
\ncompetition to win more than 94 million workers' votes in the
\nJune 7 general election.<\/p>\n
Among the 48 parties contesting the polls, worker-oriented
\nparties are the National Labor Party (PBN) formed by executives
\nbut autonomous of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI);
\nthe Workers Solidarity Party (PSP); the All-Indonesian Workers
\nSolidarity Party (PSPSI) and the Indonesian Workers Party (PPI).<\/p>\n
Executives of the Federation of All Indonesian Workers Union
\n(FSPSI), which in the past was the only government sanctioned
\nbody, are spread among founders of different parties.<\/p>\n
All are new and are grappling with limited funds, while trying
\nto make themselves known. Strong contenders in the election race
\ninclude no less than the ruling Golkar Party and the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which enjoys
\nwidespread support from low income earners.<\/p>\n
Following the crisis, workers have became bolder and among
\nwhite collar wage earners and civil servants, strikes for the
\nfirst time in decades erupted on a large scale. However, parties
\nare hard put to make lofty promises when mass dismissals are
\njustified as a last resort to save companies.<\/p>\n
Worker-oriented parties are therefore focusing on the main
\nstrongholds of workers, such as industrial estates.<\/p>\n
Parties are only beginning to approach workers in various
\nstate-owned plantations, which were previously the domain of the
\ncompulsory civil servants' organization, Korpri.<\/p>\n
Party representatives say they are, among other things, trying
\nto fight the roots of labor problems, which have led wages and
\nconditions to prevail at substandard levels.<\/p>\n
Robikin Emhas, secretary-general of the National Labor Party
\n(PBN) told The Jakarta Post recently that his party would fight
\ndevelopment policies favoring conglomerates and promote a labor-
\nintensive program to ease unemployment. According to the FSPSI
\nsome 34 million have lost their jobs since mid-1997.<\/p>\n
Robikin said fighting corruption and collusion \"would help
\nraise regional minimum wages by at least 200 percent.<\/p>\n
\"With current regional minimum wages, workers cannot survive
\nthe crisis, and many have to seek additional income to support
\ntheir family.<\/p>\n
\"If corruption and companies' 'invisible costs' are brought to
\na minimum, the labor cost could be raised from the current 7 to 9
\npercent (of production costs) to around 20 percent so that the
\nminimum wages can be raised by at least 200 percent.\"<\/p>\n
\"Invisible costs\" describe company costs which cannot be
\naccounted for, such bribes. Companies have said there is nothing
\nthey can do to reduce these costs and so have been forced to cut
\nwages.<\/p>\n
Robikin said his party is widely known in North Sumatra,
\nLampung and West Java, where many industrial estates are located.<\/p>\n
Abdullah Harahap, chairman of the Indonesian Workers' Party
\n(PPI), said his party had designed many programs oriented to
\nworkers' needs.<\/p>\n
He said the party would introduce education and training for
\nworkers to inform them of their rights and improve their
\nbargaining power.<\/p>\n
PPI would also struggle against continued government and
\nmilitary interventions in labor disputes, he added.<\/p>\n
Harahap, also deputy chairman of the Federation of All
\nIndonesian Workers Union, said his party would also seek to end
\ncheap labor policies used to attract foreign investors,
\ndiscrimination in the work place and regional minimum wages.<\/p>\n
PPI, whose targets include an estimated 50 million workers in
\nthe formal sector, would promote a combination of \"capital and
\nlabor-intensive schemes\" to encourage economic growth.<\/p>\n
A national minimum wage system would be introduced and wages
\nbased on market mechanisms would be encouraged, which the party
\nsays would lead to higher wages once an economy free of
\n\"invisible costs\" is in place. Such costs, PPI estimates, can
\namount to 30 percent of a company's production costs.<\/p>\n
Harahap said his party is recruiting labor activists as
\ncampaigners in industrial zones in Sumatra and Java.<\/p>\n
Bomer Pasaribu, Golkar's deputy secretary-general, said that
\ndespite failures in the past, Golkar would reform labor policies
\nto create a conducive climate for economic recovery.<\/p>\n
\"The current wage system and industrial relations have to be
\nrepaired and workers' rights must be respected to regain workers'
\nconfidence in the party,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bomer, also FSPSI chairman, said he was optimistic Golkar
\nwould win workers' votes, citing the party's contribution in the
\nconcept of Pancasila Industrial Relations and the current
\nregional minimum wage rules.<\/p>\n
\"Other parties, including labor-oriented ones, are not
\nfamiliar to workers,\" he said, adding that Golkar had also
\nrecruited labor activists as campaigners.<\/p>\n
Tosari Wijaya, deputy chairman of the United Development Party
\n(PPP), said his party's main program for workers was creating
\nmore job opportunities, including encouraging sending as many
\nskilled workers as possible overseas.<\/p>\n
\"PPP will also introduce a national minimum wage system to
\nreplace current regional minimum wages to improve workers'
\npurchasing power,\" he said. The regional minimum wage, which is
\ndetermined each year, has been criticized for being too low
\ncompared to minimum physical needs.<\/p>\n
Tosari, also chairman of the cigarette, tobacco and food and
\nbeverage sectoral trade union of FSPSI, said his party would also
\npromote better industrial relations. The Pancasila Industrial
\nRelations has long been manipulated to keep workers in place, he
\nsaid. Pancasila stresses harmony and labor activists have often
\nbeen charged of opposing the ideology.<\/p>\n
\"The rights of workers, especially women, will be included in
\ncampaigns to draw workers to the party,\" he said. (rms)<\/p>",
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