Govt urged to defer labor bill deadline

SEMARANG (JP): Legal experts advised the government over the weekend to reconsider the September deadline for passing the controversial labor bill.

Soehardjo and Muladi from Diponegoro University said the bill contained disputed clauses which needed substantial input and deliberation to ensure workers' rights were not adversely affected.

The bill is being debated in the House of Representatives, whose members end their terms in office in September. Critics say the law would be flawed if finalized hastily.

"This bill is very crucial for workers, it needs a long time to complete the deliberation," Soehardjo said.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief had expressed his optimism last week that deliberation of the bill could be completed by the end of September.

He called for workers and the public to refrain from turning the document into a "political issue".

Critics claim the bill gives excessive authority to the government to control industrial relations and labor disputes, and provides little protection to workers.

They criticized it for stifling workers' rights by seeking to regulate strikes.

They denounced the draft legislation for only benefiting government and business, and said it failed to confer protection on workers seeking to exercise their social, political and economic rights.

Muladi, who is also a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said the government should not dominate the debates on the manpower bill. It should instead accommodate the interests of all concerned parties, including entrepreneurs, workers, consumers and the bureaucracy.

"This bill has sparked controversy because it has too many weaknesses," the rector of Diponegoro University said.

Last week, dozens of rights activists demonstrated at the provincial legislative council in Yogyakarta, denouncing the bill for failing to guarantee workers' basic rights.

Activists from the Tjoet Nyak Dien Foundation sang, chanted slogans and displayed banners demanding the bill be rejected by the House of Representatives.

"Protect Workers, Drop the Manpower Bill", read one placard.

In a petition filed with the council, the protesters said the draft legislation would benefit only the government and business.

The bill also fails to provide protection for workers in the informal sector, such as maids and migrant workers, they claimed. (har/06/23)