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.