Government, House agree on new labor rules

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)