Female workers still under suspicion: Lawyer

Female workers still under suspicion: Lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian workers in general are afraid to
fight for their own interests, including to organize themselves,
because they are treated with suspicion by the authorities, an
activist said yesterday.

"Workers still need to request permission to get together.
They are suspected of jeopardizing stability," Nursyahbani
Katjasungkana, who is also a lawyer, said.

"I am afraid that recommendations (which do not address such
issues) are of little use." she said when addressing participants
of a seminar on women workers in the formal sector. The seminar
was organized by the local offices of International Labor
Organization (ILO) and United Nations Development Program.

Nursyahbani said she agreed to a recommendation of a study by
the ILO here regarding the need to increase worker's awareness of
their basic rights through legal literacy programs.

"However, the most important requisite to increasing awareness
is an open climate, to enable empowerment and access to
information," she said.

An inconducive political condition for the rights of free
speech and organizing, she said, isolates women in light of the
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women.

"The essence of the convention is that it can be implemented
as long as social and political rights can be developed,"
Nursyahbani said.

Although Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief has dropped a
regulation justifying military intervention in labor disputes,
Nursyahbani said "at the local level, things have not changed
much."

The ministry's assistant on labor supervision, Payaman
Simanjuntak, told The Jakarta Post that military intervention
involves individuals who cannot differentiate between matters to
be tackled by ministry officials and those which are security
problems.

"Security officers should only be called in when ministry
officials feel things have gotten out of hand," Payaman said. "As
long as demonstrations are peaceful, there is no reason for
security people to be called in."

However, demonstrations should have permits from the ministry,
he added.

Nursyahbani also supported Minister of Women Affairs Mien
Sugandhi's urging for employers to respect the rights of women to
obtain "special" treatment, such as maternity and menstrual
leaves.

"They (women workers) deserve such treatment. Giving birth
cannot be replaced by men, so employers must guarantee fully paid
maternity leave," Sugandhi said.

In response to opinions that such claims go against women
workers' demands for equality, Nursyahbani said this is because
of "the incorrect perception of a woman's nature."

Protective legislation, such as the ruling against employing
women on night shift, is discriminative, she said, citing the
recent protest of women billiard hall attendants in Surakarta,
Central Java.

"Employment opportunities for women includes those which
require night hours, but it is facilities like transport and
security which should be guaranteed. Protection should not mean
banning women from night work."

The seminar discussed recommendations of a 1993 study by ILO.
The seminar is meant as input for members of the Indonesian
delegation attending the World Women's Conference in Beijing next
month.

The study, titled A Comprehensive Women's Employment Strategy
for Indonesia, noted that, until 1990, for each 100 women in the
formal work sector, there were 223 women in informal
employment. (anr)