Govt says it cannot interfere in conflict-ridden labor union

CIANJUR, West Java (JP): The government has said it cannot interfere in the current clash within the Federation of All Indonesian Workers Union (FSPSI) triggered by a rival organization within its ranks.

Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris said on Sunday the government was bound by the International Labor Convention on the freedom of association through a 1998 presidential decree on its ratification.

"The convention guarantees freedom of association. The government can say nothing if FSPSI is reformed and an alternative central board is established," Fahmi said.

His statement was read by Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Syaufi Syamsuddin who officially opened a congress on Sunday held by the rival faction of FSPSI.

The faction holding the congress calls itself FSPSI Reformasi, following the culmination of a conflict sparked when the union's central board agreed in August to a government decree ruling that minimum wages would not be increased. The sectoral trade unions demanded the central board step down.

The rival camp was chaired by Hartono, who heads the agriculture and plantation union. The faction is supported by 11 out of the 12 sectoral unions.

Demonstrations involving more than 200 workers from Jakarta loyal to FSPSI chairman Datuk Bagindo colored the opening in the mountain resort of Cianjur. They said the congress violated the organization's statutes. The demonstrators also said they were against the support of foreign aid for the congress.

Dozens of demonstrators were involved in a minor scuffle with the congress' organizing committee and around 80 police and security personnel. No injuries were reported.

The three-day congress which ends on Tuesday is being attended by 500 delegates. It was scheduled to elect a five-member presidium and to design programs. The public works sectoral trade union was the only one which did not send a delegation to the meeting.

Also attending were former union chairmen Agoes Sudono and Bomer Pasaribu, legislators Ismoe Handoko and Marzuki Achmad, and Secretary-General of the United States-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Bill Jordan.

Fahmi said labor unions should be professional, democratic and independent when serving workers if they wanted their presence to be accepted by workers. "Workers will refuse to join a labor organization if it does not meet their requirements," he said.

The rival union's chairman, Hartono, said FSPSI's failure to reform would lead to it losing members given the new competition within labor organizations.

"Other labor unions are ready to capture our members which now number 15 million across the country," he said.

Since 1973 the government only recognized one union, FSPSI. But since May, 11 unions have been registered at the Ministry of Manpower, which the government says are legal under the 1998 presidential decree ratifying the above ILO Convention.

Ismoe, a member of the House of Representatives's Commission V on labor and mining, hailed the reform within FSPSI. He welcomed that many labor unions were competing to give better service to the workers. (rms)