Govt suspends 25 labor exporters for sending unskilled workers
Govt suspends 25 labor exporters for sending unskilled workers
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea has
suspended the operations of 25 labor supply companies for
allegedly violating labor export rules.
The move drew strong protests from the Labor Exporters
Association (Apjati), which accused the minister of being
authoritarian.
"Such a decisive action is taken to prevent labor exporters
from violating export procedures, which could place workers in
dangerous situations during their employment overseas," Nuwa Wea
said here over the weekend.
The 25 companies, 14 of which were members of Apjati, were
ordered on March 25 to suspend their operations indefinitely on
suspicions they had supplied unskilled workers to the Middle East
and placed workers in countries not recommended by the Indonesian
government.
More than 2 million Indonesians are working in several Middle
East countries, both legally and illegally.
Labor exporter companies suspended included PT Agesa Asa Jaya,
PT Pancamanah, PT Irfan Jaya Saputra, PT Ipwikon Jasindo, PT
Amira Prima, PT Alfira Perdana Jaya and PT Acindo.
Nuwa Wea conceded he took the measure without consulting with
the companies.
"The suspension will remain until these companies prove they
are not guilty," he said.
Nuwa Wea made the decision after his recent visit to Middle
East. During the visit he discovered more than 8,000 Indonesian
workers had been placed illegally in Syria and hundreds of others
were employed in Kuwait and Jordan without any pre-departure
training here in Indonesia.
Indonesia has yet to sign a bilateral agreement on labor
migration with Syria while Ministerial Decree No. 104A/2002 on
labor exports requires labor export companies to train workers
for at least 30 days before they are sent overseas.
Apjati head Husen Alaydrus regretted the minister's move,
which he said was arbitrary and unfair since the companies were
not given any chance to clarify their situations.
"We have filed a complaint to President Megawati Soekarnoputri
to protest the minister's arbitrary action, which has caused
material losses to these companies," Husen said. Thousands of
workers could now not be sent overseas and the companies affected
would be hit with extra costs feeding and accommodating them, he
said.
Husen said the 14 companies grouped in Apjati had never
supplied workers to Syria nor sent untrained workers to Middle
Eastern countries.
"If the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry has evidence that
the 14 firms have violated the decrees as the minister has
accused them of, Apjati will fully support the minister, not only
in suspending their operations but also in revoking their
operation licenses and bringing them to court," he said.
Husen said the minister could investigate the cases by
checking workers' documents and their labor contracts. Many
unauthorized companies had used the names of authorized companies
to disguise their illegal operations, he said.
"The strange thing is that the minister is not concentrating
on the labor export procedures that require all documents,
including training certificates, to be checked and approved by
the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.
"If untrained workers are being certified and approved for
overseas placements, (Nuwa Wea) should first take action against
his subordinates," Husen said.