APEC's stance on migrant workers unclear

APEC's stance on migrant workers unclear

By Tati Krisnawaty

JAKARTA (JP): The leaders of the 18 members of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum are convening in their
fourth summit in Vancouver this week but queries prevail over
whether they will address matters related to the protection of
migrant workers.

They are expected to continue working on the core issues of
economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region -- the
liberalization of trade and investment.

In the liberalization of trade and investment, the forum has
three objectives: reducing the obstacles in trade in the Asia-
Pacific region, promoting investment among members and reaching
free trade by 2020.

With these three objectives, APEC promises mutual profits,
efficiency, space for movement and free competition, which in
turn would help promote sustainable growth, welfare and
democracy. Some members are optimistic with the promises but
others are pessimistic and see the promises as nonsensical.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is of the opinion
that APEC will only satisfy the interests of the advanced
countries, mainly the United State and Japan, and the newly
industrialized countries. Prof. Suthy Prasartset of Chulalongkorn
University in Thailand has stated that APEC will aggravate the
weak position of the masses like workers and farmers living in
Southern countries.

The Kyoto Declaration signed by more than 100 nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and labor organizations on Nov. 14, 1995,
clearly opposes APEC's model of the free market and trade
liberalization because economic growth and trade promotion have
no final limits in themselves. The Kyoto Declaration was
reconfirmed through the Manila Declaration of the People's Forum
on APEC in 1996.

The consequence of these models is the exploitation of natural
resources resulting in environmental damage, social injustice,
and poor respect for human rights.

Migrant workers, for example, are a segment of the community
that fails to attract the attention of APEC.

APEC's labor ministers, in their meeting on Jan. 11, 1996,
agreed to a draft statement which appealed for the sharing of
information on the labor market, the standardization of skill
qualifications and efforts to facilitate workers' mobility.
Nevertheless, the draft statement did not discuss what should be
done for the existing millions of migrant workers, the majority
of whom are categorized as unskilled workers.

Indonesia itself has sent migrant workers to some APEC member
countries like Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea,
Singapore, the United States and Taiwan.

From APEC's point of view, workers are tools of production to
maximize growth or profits. Trade liberalization in Latin
American, South Asian as well as Southeast Asian countries in the
past two decades has seen the negligence of workers' rights.
Their wages have been very low and they have hardly received any
social security and medical care. Workers have been curbed not to
strike and to associate in organizations for the sake of economic
growth, benefiting the companies where they work.

The International Labor Organization and the United Nations
have provided various instruments for worker protection,
including protection for migrant workers, but companies often
violate the regulations.

Liberalization makes it possible for capitalists to move their
capital wherever and whenever they want. That means that workers
can lose their jobs at any time.

To prevent capital flight, governments often exercise pressure
on workers in terms of their wages, work conditions, social
security and settlement of conflicts. Furthermore, companies tend
to use cheap migrant workers who do not belong to organizations.

Female migrant workers from Indonesia enter the international
labor market mostly as domestic helpers. The demand for workers
in this sector has been on the increase from time to time. It is
not surprising because their role is very big in reducing the
work burden of their employers.

It is regrettable that many of them are not protected by local
labor laws. Many Indonesian migrant workers experience various
violations of human rights, such as long working days, low pay or
even nonpayment of salaries, sexual harassment and violence.

The problems of Indonesian migrant workers abroad have complex
dimensions in terms of legal and political access. It is not
superfluous if the problems of Indonesian migrant workers are
discussed in a global context with the main focus on their basic
rights. It is also necessary to educate them so that they have
better access to legal protection in the countries where they
work.

Domestically, the labor law approved by the House of
Representatives in October does not include the protection of
migrant workers. This new law's chapter on the recruitment of
Indonesian workers for working abroad is more oriented toward
efforts to supply cheap workers and stricter control, instead of
efforts to bring them closer to legal protection.

Does APEC's mission on free trade and investment take the
people's side?

An approach on law reform only is not adequate for the
protection of migrant workers. It needs to be complemented with a
ruling preventing the exploitation of workers under the name of
international free trade.

The writer is a former executive chairperson of the
Perserikatan Solidaritas Perempuan (Women Solidarity
Association).