Aprisindo seeks fair remuneration system

JAKARTA (JP): Labor-intensive footwear companies called on the government on Wednesday to do away with minimum wages and set a fair remuneration system to help them become more competitive in global trade.

The Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo) said the monthly minimum wages were unfair because they had been set without considering the companies' financial conditions and low quality of human resources.

Companies in this sector claim they have been hard hit by the prolonged economic crisis.

"We really want a fair remuneration system that will benefit both the workers and the employers. The current system, which is applied in the form of monthly minimum wages, is unfair and unapplicable because newly recruited workers and those who have worked for many months are treated equally," Aprisindo Chairman Anton J. Supit said in a discussion on labor here on Wednesday.

Anton said footwear companies had no objection to the monthly minimum wage system and the requirement to pay workers higher if they proved to be productive as it would make their products more competitive.

"But the majority of workers in the footwear sector are elementary school graduates and junior high school dropouts ... and investing in the country is considered unsafe because of the rampant violent labor strikes," he said.

He said that workers in the sector could produce only two or three pairs daily, while those in China and Vietnam produced an average of five pairs per day.

"This means that working ethos among our workers is low, as is their productivity," he said.

He said workers with more than two years' experience in the sector were paid between Rp 600,000 (US$70.50) and Rp 700,000 ($82.30) per month, but most did not want to try to improve their productivity.

Anton said 87 out of 178 footwear companies had gone bankrupt and 300,000 workers had been laid off over the last three years because of the prolonged economic crisis.

The footwear sector is expected to revive this year, he said, adding that Indonesia's total export was expected to reach $2.2 billion this year.

Footwear exports dropped from $2 billion in 1996 to $600 million 1997 and $1.9 billion in 1999.

Nike issue

Asked about the antiexploitation campaign against Nike sports shoes at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Anton said labor conditions at Nike's 11 contract companies in Indonesia was not as poor as had been reported.

"It's an international conspiracy between local labor unions and non-governmental organizations overseas to discredit both Nike products and their producing companies in Indonesia," he said.

He invited the NGOs and sports organizations to come to Indonesia.

"The companies' licenses should be revoked if their labor conditions prove to be as poor as has been reported.

"The workers' salaries at Nike contract companies are relatively better than at other companies which produce other famous brands," he said, while citing the gross monthly salaries at Nike contract companies were between Rp 550,000 and Rp 700,000.

He added that workers had unions and the companies complied with the labor law. There is also a collective labor agreement that is renewed biannually.

Separately, the Forum of Nike Workers in Indonesia similarly denied the allegation of bad working conditions, saying conditions at their companies were relatively good.

Djoko, the forum chairman, admitted that the companies had made some mistakes, but said labor conditions in general were better than the minimum required by the government.

"The issues on human rights abuses and labor exploitation were intentionally raised by Jim Keady, who represents a foreign NGO, in a dispute with the Oregon-based Nike International," he said without elaborating. (rms)