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).