Government plantations in violation of national labor laws
Government plantations in violation of national labor laws
Apriadi Gunawan and Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post,
Medan, North Sumatra
Several state-owned palm oil plantations in North Sumatra have
employed tens of thousands of workers for years below the minimum
wage and without the social security programs.
The workers have many times held demonstrations in an attempt
to get the attention of the provincial authorities, but no action
has been taken against the companies for any possible violation
of the rulings on the minimum wage and the social security
programs.
Jaiman, 54, who has been employed for almost 35 years at the
state-owned palm oil plantation PTPN II in Tanjongmorawa, 12
kilometers south of Medan, said since January 2002 he had been
paid Rp 350,000 monthly and it was far from enough to support his
family of eight.
"I have two children at a public junior high school while the
four others have been employed as temporary workers with the
company. My wife sells basic commodities at the local market to
help my family survive the economic hardships of daily life," he
said in his house provided by the company at the plantation on
Monday.
Jaiman expressed his deep concern over the poor labor
conditions at the plantation, saying none of the low-income
workers were able to improve their social welfare under the
current conditions.
"Thousands of workers will remain poor, both economically and
intellectually because under the current remuneration system,
they are unable to live a better life and to send their children
to university in attempt to make changes in their life," he said.
Jaiman cited the monthly minimum wage in the province for the
2003 fiscal year, which has been set at Rp 505,000 per month, an
increase of some 7 percent from Rp 464,000 in 2002, but thousands
of workers still did not even receive that.
He also questioned the management's policies, as they had not
yet registered a large portion of the workers in the compulsory
social security program.
Jaiman, also active with the company's labor union, said the
workers went on strike last year to protest the company's
violations of the labor regulations, "but, no action has so far
been taken against the management."
Indro, another employee, concurred and said that a majority of
lower ranking employees at the plantation were not registered
with the social security program. "We are jealous of the middle
and high ranking staff who are registered in the benefit program.
They are allowed to visit their own doctor (and get reimbursed by
the company), but we have only the company's clinic. We cannot
get a referral from the clinic if we need to visit a specialist."
The chairman of the labor union at the plantation (SP BUN),
Serta Ginting, said the labor union in the province had filed a
law suit against those companies who were still refusing to pay
some of their workers the legal minimum wage and had not
registered them in the social security programs.
He said that of the more than 100,000 workers employed in four
state-owned palm oil plantations in the province, 40,000, or some
40 percent, had yet to be registered for the company benefits
package.
"According to Law No. 3/1992, the social security programs are
compulsory and the workers have a right to get protection, both
from the government and their management," he said, adding that
many companies in the province had declined to register all their
workers in an attempt to avoid paying more premiums to PT
Jamsostek, the state-owned company in charge of all company
social security/benefits programs.
The PTPN II personnel and administrative affairs manager,
Arifin Bakia, conceded that his company had violated the labor
regulations but said the company had provided housing and medical
allowances to all workers as compensation for the lower wages.
"Our company is facing a serious financial crisis so we cannot
comply with all these labor regulations to help improve workers'
social welfare," he admitted, adding that he had reported the
company's problems to the local manpower and transmigration
office.
The chairman of Jamsostek's regional office in North Sumatra,
Haris Albert Tampubolon, said Jamsostek had no authority to
enforce the labor regulation because it was not a government
office.
"The local manpower and ministry office should take actions
against companies violating the labor laws," he said, while
adding that he had requested that local authorities enforce the
regulations.
Thoga Sitorus, chief of the local manpower and transmigration
office, said his office and Jamsostek were still evaluating the
participation rates of local employees to be insured in the
national program.
The social security programs were necessary to provide
protection for workers if they became sick or injured on the job,
he said.