Give workers more power, union chief says
Give workers more power, union chief says
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia cannot hope to achieve harmonious
industrial relations unless it is willing to give its workers
more political power, a top union official says.
Bomer Pasaribu, the secretary-general of the All-Indonesia
Workers Union (SPSI), called for labor reforms that ensure
workers enough power to put them at a par with management.
The present labor system was developed with the purpose of
keeping workers wages low, a factor seen as a prerequisite to
attracting foreign investors, Bomer told a seminar on industrial
relations yesterday.
He implied that union power had been purposefully weakened to
achieve that goal.
He proposed a new system that ensures industrial democracy and
in turn harmonious industrial relations.
"Democratization of the industrial sector should be encouraged
to put workers in an equal position at the negotiating table with
employers or capital owners," Bomer said.
He cited the lack of democracy as the prime cause of much of
the labor unrest in Indonesia in recent years, including the
workers' protest that turned riotous in Medan, North Sumatra,
last month.
But while arguing for a system that guarantees workers freedom
to organize, Bomer insisted that workers should unite in one
union, the SPSI, to ensure its effectiveness and strength.
"To strengthen the workers position, they should be unified in
a single organization, SPSI," he said.
He emphasized that the single union concept was a commitment
made by 23 separate labor organizations which merged into one
federation in 1973.
Disappointment
He claimed that almost all countries in the world have only
one labor union.
SPSI's existence has been widely questioned by many of its
members in recent years, with many expressing disappointment at
its failure in defending their interests.
The creation of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI)
two years ago was intended to address these concerns but the
government has refused to recognize it as a legal entity.
SBSI has been blamed for organizing the workers' protests
which disintegrated into rioting in Medan last month.
Bomer proposed that as part of the labor reforms, workers
should be given training in effective bargaining strategies to
enable them to better deal with managements.
He said that while the first 25-year development program in
Indonesia produced many large business conglomerations, the
conditions of Indonesian workers have worsened. "It is an irony
that the labor situation is worsening amid the success of
economic development," he said.
Efforts to form unions are appallingly weak, with almost 70
percent of the 147,000 registered manufacturing companies in
Indonesia still without SPSI representatives.
Bomer also acknowledged that collusion between managements and
elected workers' representatives was rife, calling this another
detrimental factor to the progress of workers.
Bomer also called for a more transparent wage system and a
limit on the differential between the salaries of the top
management and the lowest rank of workers.
He said that in industrial countries, the ratio is set at
1:15. (rms)