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)