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)