Dismissal

Dismissal
issue left
on labor
bill debate

Moch. N. Kurniawan
and M. Taufiqurrahman
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

A few days before the planned endorsement of the labor protection
and development bill, the House Special Commission needs only to
debate one contentious issue on workers dismissal after approving
articles on strikes and factory lock-outs.

Legislator Rekso Ageng Herman of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Thursday the House expected to
settle the last issue on Friday.

The debate on dismissal centers on trade union demands for
employers to pay workers who are dismissed for committing crimes
still get paid their outstanding annual bonuses, while those who
resign voluntarily will receive remuneration agreed on by both
sides.

"We hope we could finish the debate by Friday evening and
submit our approval of the bill to the House's final session for
endorsement," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said that between Monday and Wednesday this week the
special commission deliberating the bill had agreed that workers
would still be paid during strikes against management policy.

But in the event of strikes in response to government policy
and other affairs, the workers' daily wages would be paid by the
labor unions, he said.

Workers must also report their planned strikes to their
company and other relevant institutions, otherwise their protest
would be considered illegal and workers could be dismissed,
Herman said.

On the other hand, employers also had the right to lock out
their workers in the event of failed negotiations, he said.

But a lock-out aimed at retaliating against workers' demands
for changes to a company's policy was banned. Should employers
violate the ruling, they must pay workers salaries during the
period of the closure.

Employers must also give written information to relevant
authorities a week before a lock-out.

Before approving the issues on strikes and factory lock-outs,
the House has accepted the legal existence of temporary workers,
sabbatical leave and female workers' leave after miscarriage.

The House decided to cancel the bill last November due to
mounting protests from both employers and labor unions.

But following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
various labor unions such as the Federation of All Indonesian
Workers' Union (FSPSI), the Indonesian Prosperous Trade Union
(SBSI), the Indonesian Workers Union of Reform, the National
Front for Indonesian Workers' Struggle (FNPBI) and the Indonesian
Employers Association (Apindo) on 62 contentious articles early
this month, the House was optimistic the bill could be passed on
Feb. 25.

So far the nation has been waiting for a reliable and trouble-
free labor law after the Labor Law No. 25/1997 was rejected by
labor unions for restricting workers' rights.

In the wake of the reform movement in 1998, the House issued a
law to revoke the Labor Law No.25/1997, and requested the
government propose a new labor bill, which is currently being
deliberated.

Meanwhile, several small labor unions rejected the bill
Thursday, saying the bill did not protect their rights.

Among the unions are the Workers Union Association (Aspek) and
Garteks SBSI which formed the Anti-suppression Committee for
Labor (KAPB).

Joseph A. Nae Soi of Apindo claimed his organization remained
unhappy with several points in the bill, including on employers'
obligations to compensate workers who resign voluntarily, to
provide transportation to workers from home to their working
place and to build places of worship in their factories.