Employers don't always get their way

Employers don't always get their way

JAKARTA (JP): Employers don't always have their way when it
comes to disputes with workers, contrary to what labor activists
and union leaders claimed, according to a leader of the
association of employers (APINDO).

R. Mujianto said more employers lodged complaints with the
government's national labor arbitrary body last year, and not all
the body's ruling were in favor of management.

"It is commonly, but wrongly, perceived that the government
takes our side and defends our interests. People don't believe
that the government is neutral," Mujianto told The Jakarta Post.

The national labor arbitration body in Jakarta, which is run
by the Ministry of Manpower, last year received 481 complaints
filed by employers, 350 complaints by workers and 47 others filed
simultaneously by workers and managements.

Labor disputes that cannot be settled by workers and
managements are first referred to the local arbitration body in
the province. If the ruling of the local body is unsatisfactory,
the parties in the dispute can appeal to the national arbitration
body in Jakarta.

I. Wayan Nedeng, the chairman of the national arbitrary labor
committee, told The Jakarta Post that most of the cases that came
to his office were about dismissals and industrial relation
problems, including disputes about wages and allowances. But
there were also cases of workers' misconduct, thefts,
embezzlements and physical violence.

Mujianto said there was a tendency for the local arbitrary
committee at the provincial levels to rule in favor of workers.

This, he said, is one of the reasons why more companies filed
appeals to the central arbitrary body last year.

Some employers could not accept that they were faulted for
dismissing workers who committed major errors in their jobs or
the fact that they had to give huge severance pay to such
workers, he said, citing some of the cases filed last year.

Other employers were also disputing the government's ruling
that they were obliged to pay additional allowances after
complying with the government's minimum wage regulations.

Mujianto believed that the government had been as neutral as
it could be expected in dealing with labor disputes because there
were also times when it ruled in favor of employers.

He saluted the government decision to allow companies time to
adjust before complying with the minimum wage regulations.

Some companies, he said, have had difficulties in meeting the
minimum wage regulations, particularly during business downturns.
(03)