Govt to take steps against discrimination at work

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.