Govt to take steps against discrimination at work

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is increasing the number of its supervisors at companies from one per 1,000 firms to one per 50 and is planning to ratify more conventions to help eradicate discrimination in the workplace.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said on Monday that the increase in government supervisors at firms was necessary to ensure that a company did not engage in discriminative practices.

"Companies dare to violate manpower rulings particularly concerning discrimination due to the absence of government supervisors there," he said.

"If the number of government supervisors is increased, the regulation will be more effective."

He was speaking before attending the release of a report, Discrimination in the world of work: A brief look at the situation in Indonesian, from the Jakarta office of the International Labor Organization.

Minister of Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto and actress Nurul Arifin also attended the release of the report.

Jacob said his ministry in cooperation with regional administrations planned to organize training for new supervisors at firms.

"The fund for the recruitment will be taken from the state and regional government budgets," he said.

Besides placing more supervisors at firms, the government planned to ratify more international conventions concerning discrimination at work, Jacob said.

Without providing the details, ILO said that in the second semester of this year the Indonesian government will have ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

There is also a plan to ratify the Optional Protocol on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2005, ILO said.

Indonesia has ratified several ILO conventions on antidiscrimination such as freedom of association and protection of the right to organize convention, the forced labor convention, minimum wage convention, worst forms of child labor convention and the right to organize and collective bargaining convention.

ILO has released a statement saying that discrimination in the workplace in Indonesia was on the rise, with discrimination against woman topping the list.

Citing Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, the average income for women was only 68 percent of the average salary for men.

Discrimination based on age, race and religion, as well as people living with HIV/AIDS and the disabled is also increasing, it said.

Despite the increase in cases of discrimination, the ILO praised the government's efforts to combat discrimination.

It said that it was a sign that the country was trying to uphold women's rights in the workplace.

For example, the 2000 Human Rights Law specifically states that every worker, regardless of gender, has the right to equal pay for equal work, and the right to equal work conditions.

The recently endorsed Labor Protection Law also removes the prohibition on women working in mines or with heavy machinery.

Separately, worker activist Ari Sunarijati of the Reformed All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI Reformasi) expressed concern over rampant discrimination against women in the workplace particularly in connection with salary.

"The government considers a married woman a single person, therefore the woman will pay high tax while she receives no allowance for her children. Such a practice should be eliminated," she said.

Hasanuddin Rahman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) claimed the organization did not treat women workers according to the government's controversial ruling.

"As long as a woman worker can prove that she is a widow or her husband is jobless, she will be given the same salary and allowances as a man," he said.

Besides, Apindo recommends that its members recruit top level managers based on competence, not on gender, to avoid discrimination, he added.