House, government slammed for labor bills

House, government slammed for labor bills

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Both employers and labor unions slammed the House of
Representatives and the government for the much-criticized labor
bills, saying the House and the government team preparing the two
bills had failed to bridge the gap between employers and workers.

The Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) and several
labor unions told The Jakarta Post separately here on Tuesday
that they would reject the labor bills if the House went ahead
with its plan to endorse them without substantial changes to a
number of controversial chapters.

The two bills on labor dispute settlement, and labor
development and protection are still being disseminated among
employers and workers before they are passed into law in
September.

Djimanto, the deputy chairman of Apindo, said his organization
would definitely reject the bills if the government and the House
failed to listen to its objections.

"The House has its legislative right to endorse the bills but
must bear in mind whom the bills are made for. It should listen
to our views should it want to win our support," he said.

He claimed that the government and the House had held only one
hearing during the entire course of the bills' deliberation. "We
have submitted our objections to the bills but so far no changes
have been made," he said.

Djimanto admitted that employers and labor unions were still
at odds on a number of crucial issues, mainly concerning strikes,
dismissals, working hours, menstruation leave, lockouts, service
and severance payments, and sick pay.

The bills provide that employers are obliged to pay striking
workers while employers are of the opinion that no work means no
pay. "It's unfair to force employers to pay striking workers.
Furthermore, employers should be allowed to recruit new workers
should strikers refuse to go back to work," said Djimanto.

A number of smaller labor unions have rejected the two bills
for opposite reasons to the employers, and have regretted what
they see as the House's neglect of the views of workers, saying
that the current regime was similar to former president
Soeharto's arrogant and authoritarian New Order.

Muchtar Pakpahan, chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor
Union (SBSI), said that besides the contentious chapters, the
bill on labor protection was not enforceable as it would require
17 government regulations and 31 presidential decrees to make it
workable.

"Megawati will have no time to do this until 2004," he said.

According to Muchtar, both the workers and employers would
have been involved in the law-making process should the House and
the government be really committed to national reform and want to
seek the public's support for the bills.

He said the government should simplify the complicated labor
dispute settlement process in an effort to help low-income
workers who found themselves in difficulties.

"Workers who are in dispute with their employers should be
allowed to go directly to the labor court if both sides fail to
reach a solution during their bipartite negotiations, instead of
going through mediation, conciliation and arbitration by
government officials, who will charge the workers an arm and a
leg," he said.