Deputy Manpower Minister: Collective Labour Agreements Reflect Healthy Industrial Relations

Deputy Manpower Minister (Wamenaker) Afriansyah Noor has stated that a Collective Labour Agreement (PKB) is a reflection of healthy industrial relations because it is built through dialogue, deliberation, and mutual understanding between management and workers. “The success of this PKB shows that differences in interests do not have to lead to prolonged conflict, but can be accommodated through solutions that accommodate all parties,” Afriansyah said in a statement in Jakarta on Sunday. According to Afriansyah, the PKB has a meaning that goes beyond administrative or formal legal aspects. The document reflects a shared commitment to building a working relationship that is healthy, adaptive, and fair. He assessed that an open space for communication is one of the important elements in maintaining a balance between company productivity and worker welfare. In the process of drafting the PKB, he continued, differences of opinion also emerged, especially in the pre-negotiation phase when determining the composition of the negotiating team’s representation. However, the existence of Manpower Ministerial Regulation Number 28 of 2014 was considered capable of being a foothold in resolving the deadlock. Furthermore, Afriansyah emphasised the importance of maintaining the continuity of industrial relations after the signing of the PKB.