Fahmi sounds out warning on growing number of labor unions

Fahmi sounds out warning on growing number of labor unions

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris has sounded
warning bells about the rapid growth in number and strength of
labor unions, saying management will need to adapt to the new
situation.

The number of unions has now grown to 11 since June, when the
government ratified an International Labor Organization's
convention on workers' right to organize, Fahmi told senior
journalists at a luncheon at his office on Wednesday.

The convention mandated that the government allow workers to
form their own unions without any state interference.

The 11 unions are led by the Federation of All Indonesian
Workers Unions (FSPSI), a breakaway group calling itself FSPSI
Reformasi, and the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) under
Muchtar Pakpahan.

The others include the Indonesian Moslem Workers Brotherhood
(PPMI), the All Indonesian Federation of Democratic Labor Unions
(FSBDSI), the Federation of Free Indonesian Workers Union
(Gaspermindo), the Indonesian Moslem Labor Union (Sarbumusi), the
Marhaen Labor Union and the Forum for Finance and Banking Workers
(Fokuba).

This development calls for a new approach to solving
industrial disputes by management, said Fahmi, a successful
businessman recruited by President B.J. Habibie in May.

In the past, workers were in a weak position and virtually
unprotected, Fahmi said.

"We had one union representing workers, but you know what it
was like," he said, referring to the FSPSI, which until May was
the only labor organization recognized by the government in
representing workers in negotiations with company management.

Very often, the interests of workers and the FSPSI did not
match, the minister said.

Fahmi said that in the past, management were often accompanied
by local military commanders in negotiations with workers. "The
military commander would sit and stare at workers'
representatives who were not cooperative," he said.

He said that in June he wrote to the Coordinating Minister of
Political Affairs and Security and to the Ministry of Defense and
Security/Armed Forces Chief, asking that this practice of
involving the military in negotiations end.

Both officials had agreed to the request, he added.

The growth of unions' strength is one of the challenges now
facing Indonesia on the labor front, Fahmi said.

The other major issues are:

* The growing unemployment rate, now at around 18 million, and
expected to reach 20 million by the end of the year.

* The increasing number of people being laid off.

* The low skill level of the Indonesian work force, 70 percent
of whom have only a primary school education.

The Ministry of Manpower has launched a number of programs to
ease the plight of jobless people. They include running labor
intensive projects to keep people employed. Another program
prepares and assists skilled workers to start up small
enterprises. Fahmi said the government would also encourage more
Indonesians to work abroad.

The United Arab Emirates embassy in Jakarta has notified the
tiny Gulf state has many vacancies for skilled Indonesian
workers, including for military aircraft maintenance engineers.

Fahmi said that with the combination of the increasingly
difficult economic situation and the growing strength of unions,
many workers would quickly resort to protests or strikes to force
as many concessions as possible from management.

"Almost anything workers demand is now granted. This is a
worrying trend, and certainly cannot be sustained," he said,
pointing out the growing number of companies folding under the
weight of the current economic recession.

The trend could force what he described as "sunset and
footloose" industries to look for alternative sites in the
region, such as China and Vietnam, for their investments.

The minister said his office had been bombarded by workers
staging protests over various issues, from demanding wage
increases, to calling for help to prevent massive lay-offs, these
past few weeks.

"But for some unexplained reason, it has been quiet these past
few days. We haven't had any protesters visiting us this week.
Now I'm really worried," he said. (emb)