Govt wants to name October national labor strike month

JAKARTA (JP): The government will seek approval from labor unions to name October as national labor strike month, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Al Hilal Hamdi said here on Wednesday.

"I am planning to have all kinds of labor strikes, demonstrations and negotiations held at a specific time," Al Hilal told reporters after a meeting with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

He suggested that protests for raises in workers' wages could be staged in every October, with the following two months used for negotiations.

"This way, there will be no more labor disputes from January to the following October," he explained.

Al Hilal said he suggested October to allow negotiators ample time before the local government issues its annual provincial minimum wage (UMP) in January.

A new policy allows local governments to set up their own UMP, based on local inflation rates, welfare conditions and other factors.

Al Hilal said three months were sufficient for workers and companies to reach a solution in case of a dispute.

He said that workers in Japan or Korea, usually went on strike in March.

According to him, scheduling strikes would make the Indonesian investment climate more predictable for the business community.

"Foreign investors can then estimate when labor problems will flare up in Indonesia," he added.

He said he would discuss the idea with labor unions and the business community.

"We hope that this can be contained in a joint agreement or accord between the labor unions and the companies," he stressed.

Al Hilal said that while businessmen have welcomed the idea, the labor unions had not been informed yet.

The government has estimated that labor strikes and protests will grow this year, as unions become more organized.

Since the downfall of former president Soeharto in 1998, outspoken labor unions have frequently organized strikes. They have also taken an active part in demonstrations against the government on political issues.

The often unruly labor protests have raised the concerns of many export-oriented industries, which are mostly labor intensive.

Earlier, rumors had circulated that these industries were relocating to neighboring countries for fear of more labor disputes.

But the government later denied the news, saying that the companies concerned were only suffering from a lack of new orders.

"We would be very happy if the strikes were scheduled in October," said Kadin chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

He said the business community would welcome a joint agreement with labor unions to confine labor protests and negotiations to the period between October and January. (bkm)