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.