Fahmi says required membership in Korpri a thing of the past

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Civil Servants Corp (Korpri) changed its status to a labor union two months ago, with membership now optional among civil servants, Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris said on Monday.

Speaking after meeting President B.J. Habibie at Merdeka Palace, he said civil servants were free to set up their own union as a consequence of the government's ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on freedom of association last year.

Korpri's 11 million members include employees of state-run firms. Membership was formerly mandatory.

"There are already eight state companies which employees have registered to form their own labor unions," Fahmi said.

He said he issued a ministerial decree to follow up the ratification, which took place a month after Habibie replaced Soeharto in May 1998.

"Now Korpri is just like other labor unions," said Fahmi.

Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus disbanded Korpri at his ministry this month, saying the official civil servant corps was of no use.

Employees have complained that obligations include payment of least Rp 500 monthly, in addition to other fees.

Yunus, who has become known for his strong support of press freedom, said the decision to dissolve the organization was based on the decision of the Korpri members themselves, who unanimously voted against the presence of the organization.

Korpri chairman Feisal Tamin was upset and said any civil servant who quit Korpri could be regarded as having quitting the civil service. Yunus said civil servants were appointed by the government, not by Korpri.

Politicians and even state officials have admitted Korpri's main function during New Order regime was to serve as Golkar's political tool. There was an understood "obligation" for its members, along with their relatives, to vote for Golkar.

Also relied upon to boost Golkar votes were members of the compulsory organization for civil servants' wives, Dharma Wanita, whose existence also has come in for criticism.

In the recent elections, civil servants were no longer obliged to vote for Golkar and ballots were not cast in offices. In the past, civil servants said voting in the workplace assured that if they would be discovered if they voted for a party other than Golkar.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso is among officials who have felt the impact of the newfound freedom of employees of state-owned companies. A new labor union at city-owned water company PDAM Jaya has held a string of protests demanding the company revoke the allegedly corrupt cooperation agreement with two foreign firms.(prb)