Govt says it cannot interfere in conflict-ridden labor union
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)