Govt rules out talks with SBSI about Medan riot
JAKARTA (JP): The government has refused any dialogue with the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) to end the labor demonstrations and riots which have plagued the province of North Sumatra since last week.
SBSI meanwhile has refused to take responsibility for the riots although it acknowledged organizing the strikes.
Director General for Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Suwarto said yesterday that a government partnership with the SBSI to calm down the tension and mistrust between workers and employers in the province is not in the cards.
"It is impossible for the government as well as the Armed Forces to cooperate with SBSI because it is not a worker's union," Suwarto told The Jakarta Post.
He said the government will continue to uphold the 1973 Labor Declaration, making the All Indonesian Worker's Union (SPSI) the only labor organization in the country.
Mastermind
Both the government and ABRI have accused the SBSI of masterminding the rallies which led to the vandalism and race riots that have taken a heavy toll on the province's stability.
The riots started with demonstrations last week demanding a hike in the minimum wage from Rp 3,100 (US$1.4) to Rp 7,000.
The demonstrations reached their peak early last week when up to 10,000 angry protesters spilled into the streets.
The ensuing riots left an ethnic Chinese businessman dead and over a hundred shops, mostly belonging to ethnic Chinese, looted.
Suwarto said SBSI has to account for the violence.
"Both the Ministry of Manpower and ABRI have data indicating individuals in the SBSI were directly involved in organizing the protests in the provincial capital of Medan and surroundings and those in Pematang Siantar," he said.
He charged they intimidated workers and employers into joining the rallies.
Meanwhile Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday that Beijing, which has expressed concern over the racial overtones to the protests, should not worry about Jakarta's commitment or ability to resolve the matter.
"Don't forget, there are still a number of Chinese citizens living in Indonesia...some of them might be in Medan," he explained.
Denied
The SBSI chairman Mukhtar Pakpahan has continued to deny that his organization had anything to do with the vandalism and race riots, saying his organization does not resort to brutality.
According to Mukhtar, SBSI has been carrying out its mission to improve workers' fate peacefully and condemns all forms of violence.
He said the worker rallies have been used by certain individuals or third parties to create chaos in the city and to discredit the government.
Mukhtar also said he had sent a team to Medan to hand Amosi Telaumbanua, chairman of the SBSI's chapter suspected of masterminding the riots, over to the authorities.
"We took him to turn himself in to the police to prove whether or not SBSI is involved in the riots," he said, adding that Amosi went into hiding because he feared torture by local security officers.
Supervisory
In another development Chief of the Armed Forces Gen. Feisal Tanjung dismissed the allegations that ABRI fomented the violent strikes.
"ABRI was not slow (in handling the strikes)," Feisal said yesterday.
Earlier on Thursday Gen. A. Pranowo admitted that his command was a little slow in intervening. He said that there were special procedures to adhere to before he could step in.
Feisal said ABRI had confirmed that many former members of the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party, PKI, were involved in the riots. Their involvement, said Feisal, was obvious from the manner they launched the strikes and from the way they intimidated workers into committing vandalism and rioting.
"Their demands are not clear either," said Feisal.
He added that ABRI would investigate the case thoroughly before arresting anyone, including any SBSI members.
"It's not easy to make an arrest. We have to follow procedures," he said. (rmn/rms/07)