95 firms violate manpower regulations

JAKARTA (JP): The government has prosecuted 12 companies this year and will send 83 others to court for alleged violations of manpower regulations, a Ministry of Manpower official said yesterday.

The ministry chief spokesman Fachri Thaharuddin said to Antara that most are being prosecuted either for violating minimum wage regulations or for failure to provide mandatory social insurance, overtime payment, work leave and safe working environments.

Twenty companies are located in Jakarta, 21 in West Java, 25 in East Java, 21 in North Sumatra, five in West Nusa Tenggara, one in Aceh and two in Central Java.

He said the government won court battles against the 12 companies that have been prosecuted so far. Their form of punishment ranged between fines from Rp 75,000 to Rp 750,000 to jail terms of three months.

The other 83 companies are expected to be tried soon. Fachri said the government is determined to take action against all delinquent companies.

He admitted, however, that monitoring all of the companies is a gigantic task, especially considering the ministry's lack of personnel. "There are only about 800 officers to monitor the activities of 140,000 companies," he said.

He said the government is counting on the All Indonesian Labor Union (SPSI) and the workers to come forward to report on any violations by their employers.

Fachri said most of the violations occurred in companies which did not have any trade union representatives. The government would continue to encourage workers to establish labor unions in their companies so that they could be stronger in defending their rights and their welfare, he added.

On a separate occasion Suwarto, the ministry's Director General of Guidance and Control, said that the government was fully aware that the current penalties for violation of labor laws were too lenient.

The Ministry of Manpower is currently drafting on new labor laws with stiffer penalties, Suwarto said.

The draft has already been sent to the State Secretariat which will make certain amendments before presenting it to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

He said he expected the bill to become law by April.

The new law will provide more legal protection for workers and guarantee safety in the workplace so that they will be more comfortable and improve their productivity, he said.

It will cover issues on the wage system, labor unions, manpower, social insurance, work leave as well as workers' health, safety and education.(sim)