Govt, House drop 1997 labor law

Govt, House drop 1997 labor law

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) and the government agreed on
Friday to drop Law No. 25/1997 on manpower, and promised to speed
up the prolonged deliberation of the disputed new bills on labor
protection and dispute settlements.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea
confirmed that revoking the law would automatically keep the
prevailing laws and regulations effective.

They include laws No. 22/1957 on the settlement of industrial
disputes and No. 12/1964 on workers' dismissals -- both
considered by labor activists to benefit employers more.

In addition, relations between workers and employers are also
regulated by Ministerial Decree No. 150/2000 on compensation for
dismissed workers and pension remuneration -- a decree that is
much criticized by employers for siding too much with workers.

Law No. 25/1997, produced toward the end of former president
Soeharto's administration, aimed to improve industrial relations
between laborers and employers. But following Soeharto's fall,
workers rejected the law.

They contended that the law was repressive and did not
accommodate the changing situation in industrial relations,
including democratization and human rights appreciation.

This rejection, pursued through various demonstrations,
prompted the government to delay its implementation until Oct. 1,
2002.

With Friday's decision from the House and the government to
drop the 1997 labor legislation, this law has never come into
force.

The government and the legislators are deliberating two bills
on the settlement of industrial disputes (PPHI) and labor
protection (PPK).

The government and the House had initially aimed to pass the
bills by the end of this sitting, but then workers and employers
rejected the draft laws, prompting the government and the House
to postpone their passage.

Jacob vowed that his office and the legislators would
accommodate further input from both employers and workers to make
the bills acceptable for both parties.

"We will soon invite employers and labor unions to discuss the
revision of the two bills," Jacob said after attending a House's
plenary session.

Among the unsolved issues in the deliberation of the two bills
were regulations concerning strikes, vacations, dismissals and
penalties for employers.

The minister said the two crucial bills would soon be passed
into law because the existing laws and regulations did not
accommodate the interests of workers.

"The old manpower law was made 50 years ago, therefore it has
no relevance to current situations," said Jacob, who still chairs
the All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation.

Jacob said that old laws imposed light punishment for any
violations to the rulings, and the workers were positioned in the
weak part.

Touching on the next deliberation of the two unfinished bills,
Jacob said that the government would soon host a tripartite
forum, comprising the representatives of the government,
employers and workers.

He said he hoped the forum would result in better and more
acceptable draft bills. "We will see later," he said.

Jacob said the tripartite forum was too difficult to be formed
because workers could not determine their representatives, due to
the many labor unions.