Workers' freedom<\/p>\n
Authorities in this country showed a stubborn reluctance to
\nrecognize workers' rights right up until President B.J. Habibie
\nsigned up to the International Labor Organization (ILO)
\nconvention on June 5. The convention guarantees workers the
\nfreedom to organize.<\/p>\n
Under Soeharto, the authorities cut back workers rights and
\nthe police clamped down heavily on underground unions and any
\nsigns of labor unrest. This policy seems to have been spurred by
\nthe ghost of the communist labor union, which haunted former
\npresident Sukarno's government right up until the Indonesian
\nCommunist Party was banned in 1965. Left-wing unions were so
\nstrong and so well-organized that they were able to disrupt many
\nimportant social and economic activities and mentally terrorize
\nanti-Communist groups.<\/p>\n
However, the subsequent emasculation of workers' activities
\nwas lamented as a national disaster, not only by many people at
\nhome, but also by democratic countries around the world. Under
\nthe clampdown on unions authorities curtailed the workers' right
\nto strike, a ban which lasted right up until five years ago. The
\nlengthy absence of this basic freedom from the country's labor
\nrelations perhaps goes some way toward explaining why today's
\nminimum monthly wage in the Jakarta area stands at a meager Rp
\n172,000 (US$13), far too small to provide for even the most basic
\nof basic needs.<\/p>\n
To compound the difficulties faced by workers, certain
\nagencies with no responsibility for labor relations saw to it
\nthat they became involved in every labor dispute, and often used
\nforce and aggression to do so. In circumstances such as these,
\nMarsinah, a female labor activist, was mysteriously tortured and
\nmurdered in East Java in 1993, in a case which attracted
\nworldwide attention. Police had forgotten about this case until
\nlast week, when the reform movement vociferously reminded them of
\ntheir duty to track down those involved in the murder.<\/p>\n
Workers' conditions did not even improve in the final years of
\nSoeharto's government after the Cold War had come to an end and
\nthe specter of communism was no longer a threat. They continued
\nto be denied the right to set up their own unions, and the
\ngovernment-backed All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation (FSPSI)
\ndid nothing to defend their interests, indeed employers
\nrepresentatives often formed the leadership of that ineffectual
\norganization.<\/p>\n
In April 1992 a group of activists set up the independent
\nIndonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI). It was banned by the
\ngovernment two years later and many of its active members,
\nincluding chairman Muchtar Pakpahan, were persecuted. Pakpahan
\nwas later jailed by a kangaroo court. He was released last week.<\/p>\n
Workers are always the first and worst casualties in any
\nsocial or economic crisis. The hardship which they suffer is
\ncomparable only to that of peasant farmers, who are at the mercy
\nof those in the government who set the price for their crops.<\/p>\n
However, for those who wish to see an improvement in the lot
\nof this country's workers there is cause for optimism. President
\nB.J. Habibie has signed up to the ILO convention on workers'
\nrights to organize, and the House of Representatives will shortly
\ndebate, with a view to ratifying, conventions on migrant workers,
\ndiscrimination in employment, and minimum wages. These will all
\nhelp to return basic rights to our workers and strengthen their
\nbargaining position, an essential move given that over 50 percent
\nof our 90 million workforce is now underemployed.<\/p>\n
Providing workers with a better deal will improve our image
\nabroad -- an image that has frequently been tarnished by the
\nmistreatment of workers, both in the country and overseas. In the
\nwords of Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris: \"Up until now we have
\nbeen regarded as a country which does not support the protection
\nof human rights and fails to give freedom to our workers.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-freedom-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}