Workers still marginalized<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
In the new global economy, multinational corporations contract
\nwith firms all over the world to manufacture their electronic
\nparts, their garments, foods and beverages, furniture, toys or
\nfootwear. The labels on goods used by those living in luxurious
\napartments or the uniforms or shoes used by famous football and
\nbasketball players at international events tell us they were
\n\"Made in China,\" \"Made in Thailand,\" \"Made in Vietnam,\" or \"Made
\nin Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
Consumers frequently feel proud of using products with famous
\nlabels such as Nike, Reebok, Ligna, Sony, Samsung, Levi Strauss
\nand Swan, or drinking Lipton, Fanta, Coca-Cola and other
\ninternational products but they seldom stop to think about what
\nsuch labels means.<\/p>\n
One of the most notorious multinational corporations that
\nmakes contracts with local manufacturers in Indonesia is Nike,
\nthe U.S. footwear manufacturing company has contracts with at
\nleast 14 local companies in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The usage of Nike footwear in the 2000 Sydney Olympics sparked
\na strong protest from numerous human rights groups and labor
\nactivists because of the poor condition of workers employed by
\nits partner or manufacturing companies in Tangerang, Banten. The
\nprotest followed a wave of industrial strikes staged by workers
\nin 1999 who were paid between US$33.80 and $39.40 per month, or
\na little more than $1 per day.<\/p>\n
According to data at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry,
\nNike was only one of around 60 manufacturing companies failing to
\npay attention to workers' basic rights between 1999 and 2002.
\nThis figure is far too low if compared to labor conditions during
\nthe New Order era.<\/p>\n
Besides the increasing demand for the basic rights of workers
\nhave cause them to frequently go on strike or stage rallies in
\nfront of government offices and the House of Representatives
\nbuilding to protest against low wages, arbitrary dismissals,
\ntransfers and insurance protection.<\/p>\n
All these problems have come to a head because the workers
\ncould not adequately meet the increased cost of living and other
\nsecondary and tertiary needs, and were treated inhumanely despite
\nthe entrance into the supposed reform era.<\/p>\n
Very few industrial disputes occurred between employers and
\nworkers during the 32-year New Order era, because workers were
\ncontrolled by former president Soeharto's repressive and
\nmilitaristic-style regime. Not only that, the police and military
\nwere deployed to handle industrial disputes in companies and only
\none workers union Serikat Pekerja Seluruh Indonesia (SPSI) was
\nallowed to represent workers in negotiations with employers.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who made an economic policy based on growth, was
\ntrying to attract as many foreign investors as possible but
\nadequate attention was not given to improving the poor labor
\nconditions while the annual economic growth of 7 percent greatly
\nenriched a small group of conglomerate owners, mostly from the
\nCendana clique.<\/p>\n
SPSI, which was ironically dominated by the then ruling party
\nGolkar, had rarely, if ever, paid attention to improving the poor
\nlabor conditions, but instead focused on pushing all workers to
\nsupport Golkar at ballot time to defeat the only other two legal
\nparties at the time, the United Development Party (PPP) and the
\nthen Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in six straight general
\nelections.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) led by Muchtar
\nPakpahan contributed slightly by countering SPSI, but their
\nstruggle got him and his fellow labor activists a one-way ticket
\nprison. Even, H.J.C. Princen, an Indonesian of Dutch parentage
\nand former war veteran in Indonesia, was once sent to jail and
\nseveral times tortured for advocating on behalf of workers in the
\n1980s.<\/p>\n
All this social, political and economic background has given
\nbirth to an extreme proliferation of labor unions following the
\ndownfall of Soeharto on May 21, 1998. At present there are at
\nleast 64 labor unions, in the forms of federations or
\nconfederations and at the company-level.<\/p>\n
\"The mushrooming of labor unions has a lot to do with the
\nreform euphoria brought in by former president B.J. Habibie who
\nratified ILO Convention 87 on freedom of expression and ILO
\nConvention 98 on freedom to unionize. Consequently, we made Law
\nNo. 21\/2000 on labor unions giving a guarantee for workers to set
\nup their own union,\" Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
\nJacob Nuwa Wea told The Jakarta Post in an interview here
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
Jacob predicted that the reform euphoria would last for a long
\ntime since the fate of workers had yet to be give adequate
\nattention from the government and other relevant institutions.
\n\"The current situation will likely last for the next ten to
\nfifteen years, or until the workers have strong bargaining power
\nin negotiations with employers and investors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He denied that the recent relocation of many foreign companies
\nto Vietnam and China was related to those countries alleged poor
\ntreatment of workers and their pro-labor laws. He said Sony
\nElectronics closed down its factory in Indonesia, not because of
\nthe labor disputes, but because of worker inefficiency. PT Doson
\nand Nike said their relocation to Vietnam and China was because
\nof their inability to pay their workers the new, government-
\nmandated minimum wages.<\/p>\n
\"So far, there have been no foreign investors who have
\nrelocated to other countries because of the labor unrest,\" he
\nstated.<\/p>\n
Jacob, also chairman of the Confederation of All Indonesian
\nWorkers Union (KSPSI), many investors have complained about the
\npoor climate for investment in Indonesia because of general
\nsecurity, rampant extortion, rising inflation and, the last, was
\nlabor disputes.<\/p>\n
Many foreign investors with palm oil plantations in Sumatra,
\nKalimantan and Sulawesi left because of the rife theft of profits
\nand rampant extortion by security personnel, while many leather
\nand footwear companies have gone bankrupt because of the banning
\nof leather imports or the rising prices of raw materials.
\nTherefore, he said, all these problems should be blamed, not on
\nhis ministry, but the trade and industry ministry, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Speaking frankly, no workers acquire big assets or become
\nrich because of high wages. The highest minimum wage at present
\nis around Rp 700,000 per month. A single worker cannot live
\nhumanely and meet his\/her basic needs and rent a small house with
\nsuch a monthly payment. The irony is that investors have never
\ndisclosed to the public on the huge amount they have paid to
\ncorrupt officials for certain facilities and for security.<\/p>\n
\"Do you believe that PT Freeport does not pay security
\nauthorities? Are you sure that PT Caltex in Riau and ExxonMobil
\nin troubled Aceh and other giant companies do not pay a huge
\namount of money for their security. I personally don't. But
\nwhat's happening is that these employers have charged this
\nsecurity money to the labor cost, a similar practice was done by
\ninvestors during the New Order era,\" said Jacob who was once a
\nmanager of private company in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Jacob who was born in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, insisted
\nthat Indonesia could no longer maintain the cheap labor policy to
\nbring in foreign investors to invest in the country. Investors
\nshould hold the principle of \"business is business\" but doing
\nbusiness in the country should comply with the law and respect
\ndemocracy. \"Indonesia would continue lagging behind and workers
\nwould eventually become backward and uneducated if the old
\npractice and labor policy was maintained,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Asked about the current program, he said he was trying to
\nencourage labor unions to provide training programs to improve
\ntheir members' skills, not only in their work places but also in
\nnegotiations with employers.<\/p>\n
\"With such training programs, labor unions will become more
\nprofessional and they are expected to share a common awareness
\nthat they will be getting stronger only if they are united or
\nmerge into two and three confederations in representing workers.
\nBut this will take more time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that of the 64 labor unions registered with the
\nManpower and Transmigration Ministry, only around ten had more
\nthan one million members, including KPSPSI, SBSI and workers
\nunions in state-owned companies.<\/p>\n
Besides developing a strong labor movement to support
\ndemocracy, he is trying to review old labor laws to help improve
\nworkers' social welfare. \"So far, the government has made a new
\nlaw on labor protection regulating industrial relations between
\nworkers and employers. The law which has yet to be enacted by
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri also accommodates a major part
\nof the prolabor Ministerial Decree No. 150 on severance and
\nservice payments for dismissed workers.\"<\/p>\n
The law also demolishes the ministerial decree's rule
\nrequiring employers to pay severance and service payments for
\nresigning workers and those committing crimes in their work
\nplace. Besides, the law regulates sensitive issues such as labor
\nstrikes, general rights, menstruation leave, outsourcing and
\nannual and sabbath vacations.<\/p>\n
\"The other important thing is that employers will think twice
\nbefore committing violations because the law threatens harsh
\nsanctions and fines against them,\" said the minister.<\/p>\n
Jacob said the government and the House of Representatives
\nwere making a final touch to the bill on settlement of labor
\ndisputes stipulating the establishment of labor court to give a
\nlegal certainty for workers in dealing with disputes with their
\nemployers.<\/p>\n
\"The two laws will be quite strategic to improve the poor
\nlabor condition so that they will no longer be marginalized. My
\nobsession is that workers will play an important role in
\ndeveloping the country, upholding the democracy and bring the
\nnation into the modern industrial era,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Jacob, also an executive of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) that gave him his current job, conceded
\nthat he still had a headache in handling the unemployment problem
\nsince the number of jobless has significantly reached 40 million,
\nmany of whom are university graduates.<\/p>\n
The Oct. 12, 2002 Bali terror bombs, the U.S.-led regime
\nchange in Iraq and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
\nepidemic have added to economic constraints, in addition to the
\nlow quality of workers, for the government to send as many as
\npossible job seekers overseas.<\/p>\n
\"The Bali blasts have made foreign employers unwilling to
\nemploy Indonesian male workers, the war on Iraq has caused Middle
\nEast countries to suspend the import of foreign workers and the
\nSARS epidemic has forced us to suspend the labor export to Hong
\nKong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said all these problems would be temporary and he was
\noptimistic that the planned reconstruction in Iraq would need
\nworkers from Indonesia and other Gulf states would resume their
\nlabor imports from Indonesia since the fighting in Iraq was
\nalready over.<\/p>\n
\"We are using this time to press labor export companies to
\nintensify their training programs to improve the skills of
\nworkers before they are sent overseas. This will improve the
\nworkers' bargaining power,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He meanwhile said the government would also continue to review
\nits economic policy to continue luring foreign investors to
\ninvest in the country in an attempt to create more job
\nopportunities to cope with the unemployment problem.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-still-marginalized-1447893297",
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