Former entertainer tunes in to labor issues

Former entertainer tunes in to labor issues

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): Arist Merdeka Sirait used to sing and play
guitar in hotels. Today, he has left the entertainment world far
behind as he dedicates his life to the struggle for workers'
rights.

In his capacity as director of the Indonesian Committee for
the Creative Education of Child Labor Foundation (Kompak), he has
been invited by the Norwegian government to the International
Conference on Child Labor in Oslo from Oct. 27-Oct. 30.

He was born on the Bahbutong plantation in North Sumatra in
1959. His father was an elementary school teacher and his mother
a trader. Arist majored in German at Nomensen University in
Medan, but quit after three years.

"It didn't fit me," he said. He then became a singer in a
local hotel.

In 1980, he moved to Jakarta and continued to entertain in
hotels for the next two years. He lived in a workers' community
in Cibubur, East Jakarta, where he learned firsthand about the
hard lives of laborers.

"It reminded me of life on the plantation, which was also full
of problems," he said.

An activist in his church's youth organization, Arist was
involved in the service provided for female workers. One of his
colleagues was Rostymaline Munthe, a former factory worker who
became his wife in 1992.

In 1988, Arist set up Sisbikum, the Center for Labor
Information and Legal Guidance. In the next year, Kompak was
established. Rosty is the project coordinator for both
organizations. She left for Oslo Tuesday in her capacity as
interpreter for a child laborer who is to attend the Children's
Forum on Oct. 23-Oct. 26.

The Jakarta Post met Arist earlier this week in his modest
office on Jl. Kayu Jati IV/17B, Rawamangun, East Jakarta. The
following are excerpts.

Question:What is your view on child labor here?

Answer: Indonesia signed the Convention on the Rights of the
Child in 1989, and ratified it in 1990. But it seems that the
rights of the child laborers are neglected. Our legal products do
not stipulate clearly on child workers. Even the definition on
age of children is not clear.

For instance, according to the 1974 Marriage Law, the age
limit of a child, for the female is 16 years old, while for the
male it is 21. The Law on Children's Welfare No.4/1979 defines
children as those under 21 years old.

Our manpower law (passed by the House of Representatives in
September) says the age limit is 14 years old, while according to
the Convention (on the Rights of the Child), the limit is 18.

Because of this uncertainty about the age limit, children,
especially in industry, do not have sufficient legal protection.
They are often unrecognized as part of the labor force.

What is the number of child workers here?

A census by the Central Statistics Bureau in 1996 showed that
there were 1.9 million children between 10 and 14 years old who
worked in industry. If you add those in the informal sector and
in rural areas, the number is 2.1 million.

It is clear that the children are there, but even the Ministry
of Manpower, which is administratively supposed to supervise the
children, does not have sufficient data on child factory workers
because, administratively, it doesn't recognize child labor.

How are child laborers treated?

They are discriminated against. They receive lower wages even
though they do the same job. Adults receive Rp 5,750 a day for
seven working hours, the minimum wage (in Greater Jakarta), but
the children receive between Rp 3,000 and 4,000. Unlike the
adults, they don't have a health allowance.

How do you learn about the discrimination?

We have open houses in Bogor, Bekasi and Tangerang, so we have
direct contact with the children. Every Sunday, they come to
discuss their problems and we try to educate them (about their
rights). Not many people -- about 20 to 25 -- come to each open
house. Once there were only four people because the rest had to
work overtime.

Where do they work?

In various factories, producing garments, biscuits, shoes,
mosquito repellents... Their products are not only sold here, but
also abroad, like Reebook, Adidas, Levi's.

Why do they work?

They enjoy working, being able to make their own money.

The dominant factor here is that most parents who live about
four or five kilometers from the center of the industry are
jobless. They were farmers. When industry arrives, the land is
taken away. There is no more land to till. They want to be
industrial workers, but they are rejected as they are considered
too old, even though they are only in their 40s.

On the other hand, the factories open their doors wide for the
children. They are accepted because you don't have to be an adult
to do the job, children can do those things, such as sewing,
gluing, buttoning, etc.

Then there is the cultural factor. It is believed that it is
good for children to help their parents; this is a process of
socialization and education in the family.

Some say children have to work because they are poor.

Poverty is the scapegoat. It is not the dominant factor.

What's happening is the process of impoverishment.

How can we cope with the problems?

We need a law which is clear in order to protect the people.

How about the new manpower law?

It is ambivalent. Article 95 says that employers should not
hire children. In the explanation, it is said that children are
those under 15 years old. In contrast, Article 96 says that
children who have to work are allowed to do so. That is obscure.
Who makes the decision that the children have to work? The
parents, the employers, the children themselves or the
government?

Are there any restrictions on those children who have to work?

Yes, it is stated that children should not work more than four
hours. But there is no way that employers would comply with the
regulation. It is unthinkable they would hire workers with such
short work hours.

The old manpower legislation, Law No, 1/1951, said children
under 14 were not allowed to work. However, the ministerial
decree No.1/1987 says children are allowed to work for economic
reasons if they have to, provided they don't work more than four
hours a day, and that the employer has to facilitate their
education. But this is not implemented.

What kind of law do we need?

A law which clearly protects the children's rights. I object
with the current law because there is no regulation to enforce
it; there is no legal sanction for the employers who do not
comply with the law.

Children have the right to work. It is the government's job to
protect them.

What will you do in the Oslo conference?

I will say that in the developing countries, which do not
adopt children's rights in political and economic policies, what
needs to be eliminated is the intolerable and invisible child
labor.

We should eliminate child prostitution, and also child
domestic workers. The latter is difficult to control; if they
work in luxury houses, we don't know what the conditions are
behind the walls. Also, those working in jermal (fishing stations
located at sea).

But we have to protect those working in industry.

How about those in the informal sector?

The shoeshine boys, the street vendors, they are still
controllable. But we can't control those involved in drug
trafficking, or as pickpockets and mafia-organized beggars.

You said earlier there are children who work in factories
producing international brand-name products. Do you think it is
necessary to involve importers in the process to protect child
workers here?

They only have codes of conduct. For example, Nike has a
clause saying that factories must not employ children under 15
years old. You can't find children in Nike suppliers. But they
might give the job to subcontractors, which later give orders to
home workers.

What is important is strict action from the government and the
goodwill of the employers.

How about a boycott?

If you boycott the products without considering the condition
of the children in developing countries, who have to work because
of economic reasons, this will incur (negative) impacts on the
children themselves.

Really, it is all about politics. We will never be able to
solve these problems as long as the economics...monopoly,
corruption...are not handled properly.