Government, House agree on new labor rules

JAKARTA (JP): The government and the House of Representatives agreed on Tuesday to scrap the much-criticized registration procedures which were compulsory for labor unions in the past.

Amru Al Mu'taqim, who chairs the House's working committee deliberating the labor union bill, said all unions would be required only to announce their establishment and make their executives known to the government for statistical purposes.

"Workers are free to unionize or stay away from labor unions but they are obliged to announce to the public and report to the government and their employers about their unions," Amru said after the committee's closed-door meeting with government representatives.

He warned, however, that workers could not set up labor unions arbitrarily because it would certainly weaken their bargaining power.

"The House is of the opinion that workers are free to unionize but they should set up well-organized unions to improve their bargaining position with their management," he said, referring to International Labor Organization Convention No. 87, ratified by Indonesia in 1997.

Many labor unions and non-governmental organizations have recently protested the bill for requiring unions to register with the Ministry of Manpower. They suspect the government is trying to maintain its control over unions and workers.

Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Syaufi'i Syamsuddin, who represents the government, reiterated the government's promise not to maintain its dominant role in tackling labor disputes and its commitment to respecting the workers' rights to unionize.

"The bill has no political implications. Workers' compliance with the requirement will help the government compile data on labor unions in the country," he said.

He said the government was of the opinion that workers should set up three of four powerful unions representing them in case of labor disputes with their management.

"The more unions there are, the weaker they will be. The most important thing is that labor unions should be independent, democratic and reliable in fighting for workers' interests," he said.

He said the government would no longer allow security authorities to intervene in labor disputes as happened in the past.

"All labor disputes should be settled in accordance with the standard procedures," he said. Only labor unions and the government would be authorized to handle labor disputes, he added.

He said the government would also submit to the House in the near future a bill on industrial relations to regulate industrial relations between workers and employers.

Amru pointed out that factions in the committee remained divided over the use of "pekerja" (workers) and "buruh" (labor) terminologies in the bill and Pancasila state ideology as the founding statute of labor unions.

"Several factions want to maintain the terminology of 'pekerja' because, according to them, 'buruh' has a pejorative meaning and linked to Marxist ideology, while several others want to maintain 'buruh' because, according to them, 'pekerja' was misused by the former New Order regime to make a division among workers," he said.

He also said many factions rejected the old pattern of using Pancasila as the mandatory founding statute, as they wished to allow the establishment of religion-based unions.

"We are near to a conclusion that labor unions are free to adopt ideologies other than Pancasila but they should not be against the state ideology," he said.

He declined to identify the divided factions.

The bill is expected to be passed into law later this month. (rms)