Closed debate on labor bill irks workers union

Closed debate on labor bill irks workers union

JAKARTA (JP): The All Indonesian Workers Union Federation
(FSPSI) joined in the chorus of criticism yesterday against the
backroom deliberation of the manpower bill, demanding a public
explanation from both the central government and the House of
Representatives.

In a statement addressed to the minister of manpower and
speaker of the House, 24 chapters of FSPSI expressed their
concern that the closed deliberation held outside the House
invoked suspicion among workers on the government's intention.

The statement noted with concern that a decision by the
House's consultation board not to hold meetings during recess had
been violated.

"As we all know, the House has banned any kind of bill
deliberation during the House recess period," said head of FSPDI
Jakarta chapter, Alexander Sinaga.

It was recently revealed that legislators and government
officials held five days of talks on the manpower bill at the end
of July at the Horizon Hotel, North Jakarta.

The government has been pushing legislators to pass the bill
before the end of their term on Sept. 30.

The talks were held, even though the House was in recess until
Aug. 16.

Legislators defended their actions saying that the meeting was
merely "for the sake of lobbying".

Sinaga did not agree with the legislators. "It's not lobbying
if you eat and stay the night at a hotel for days or even weeks.
More than likely, they were deliberating the bill," Sinaga said.
"And we workers wonder where they get the money to do so --
certainly not from the House."

In its two-page statement, the union also called on the House
to hold a "careful and thorough deliberation of the bill, in
regards to its wide dimension".

"Since the manpower bill has wide-scale implications,
deliberation should be conducted thoroughly and carefully,
without the need to force it through the House during the current
period," the statement read.

Sinaga said there was a feeling among many factory workers
that the government, for some reason, wants to hastily finish
deliberation.

"We are afraid that an uninspired bill will only leave a time
bomb behind for us all," he said.

Elaborating further on the union's statement was FSPSI's
deputy chairman, Wilhelmus Bhoka, who said deliberation of the
controversial bill should not be done in haste.

According to Bhoka, only 126 of an overall 550 items were
deliberated before the House went into recess on July 28.

"Technically, it's impossible to finish deliberating. The
House will only have 16 days left to deliberate the whole bill,
from Aug. 18 when it finishes its recess period until Sept. 10,"
he said.

"You have to go through the substance of the bill, and also
formulate it in good Indonesian language," Bhoka said.

Bhoka maintained there was no need to speed up the bill's
completion. "The state won't stop functioning if the House
doesn't finish. We still have the upcoming House to continue the
bill's deliberation."

Bhoka said issues that the House and government have yet to
address were workers' basic rights to form unions, the
termination of employment, the right to strike and the question
of minimum wage.

"Even though in their statements the government and
legislators said they were aware of the need to guarantee rights
in the bill, they still have to give us real proof they will,"
Bhoka said.

He said FSPSI would be satisfied if the bill passes during the
current term only if it really incorporates workers' aspirations.

"If not, we will certainly react to it," Bhoka warned, but
refused to say what FSPSI would do.

Separately, former minister of manpower Cosmas Batubara said
the controversy over the manpower bill would not have occurred if
there had earlier been disseminated information about the bill.

"The public should have been told earlier...on the urgency of
the bill, while on the other hand legislators should be more
accommodating to people's aspirations," he said at a seminar
yesterday. (aan)