House passes labor bill
JAKARTA (JP): Workers will be able to go on strike without fear of losing their wages or their Idul Fitri holiday bonus, as they are now basic rights, if the much-altered manpower bill goes into effect.
The House of Representatives passed the bill in a plenary session yesterday, claiming significant changes to accommodate the aspiration of workers.
The document will abolish 11 ordinances and laws on labor affairs if it is enacted by the President and will go into effect on Oct. 1, 1998. There has been no explanation as to why the bill will go into effect on that date.
Weeks of intensive deliberation, under the pressure of limited time and constant criticism of the bill from various corners, ended yesterday and proved to be a draining experience for Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief. He shed tears while delivering his speech before the plenary session presided over by Deputy House Speaker Ismail Hasan Metareum.
Outside the plenary hall, hundreds of workers representing the Jakarta chapter of the government-backed All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation (SPSI) rallied in support of the new bill. They presented Latief with a garland of flowers as he was about to leave the House.
Meters apart, a group of non-governmental organization (NGO) activists calling themselves the Women's Group for Labor Justice staged a demonstration. They expressed what they called "condolence for the vanishing protection of workers' rights".
According to the bill, workers are allowed to go on strike if their basic rights are not met without having to lose their wages. The original draft submitted by the government said workers should not be paid when they go on strike.
The government decided to include a bonus in connection with the Idul Fitri holiday among workers' basic rights.
"It's a pitiful sight -- fasting workers stage a strike only to seek some extra money so they can celebrate the holiday with their families," Latief said sobbing.
He took a pause to wipe away tears before adding: "We hope the decision will curb the number of such strikes."
The bill, however, bans strikes held on streets. Workers must also notify both their employer and the government at least 72 hours before they strike.
Latief said that street rallies were vulnerable to "meddling by certain parties" and not effective in solving problems.
"Street rallies are banned because we want the workers to solve problems with their management at their workplaces and through deliberation," Latief said.
A legislator from the United Development Party, Tosari Wijaya, defended the bill's provision on strike procedures, saying that even in Western countries such regulations were applied.
"The bill actually wants to prevent strikes and instead suggests deliberation," said Tosari, also an executive of SPSI.
A maximum sentence of six months in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 50 million (US$17,000) will be imposed on employers who take punitive measures against the right to strike.
The bill allows workers to establish a trade union at their respective factories. The government had insisted earlier that a trade union had to receive support from a majority of workers, but the House rejected it.
Those who prevent a group of people from establishing a trade union face a maximum of two years in jail and a Rp 200 million ($68,000) fine.
The government names SPSI as the only recognized workers organization in the country. According to the bill, a trade union must register itself and provide names of its members to the Ministry of Manpower.
Meanwhile, the Consortium of Migrant Worker Advocates criticized the bill for lacking measures to protect Indonesian workers who work abroad, particularly women.
"There is no basic change in the final draft of the bill compared to the original one dealing with protection of female workers who frequently fall prey to violence and sexual harassment," the consortium said in its release.
It said the bill did not provide migrant workers with rights to information, appropriate accommodations and other basic rights. (amd)