International workers union criticizes manpower bill
JAKARTA (JP): An international labor union has criticized Indonesia's manpower bill for stipulations which it says contradict international labor principles.
International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) president Klaus Zwickel criticized the bill in a press conference at the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, which is campaigning to improve workers' welfare.
The bill is now being deliberated at the House of Representatives.
Zwickel said the bill's stipulations on wages and workers' right to strike and form labor unions were restrictive.
He said that, if the bill was passed in its present form, international workers' organizations might "isolate" Indonesia.
The Geneva-based IMF is an independent worker's organization representing 20 million metal workers in 90 countries, including Indonesia.
The bill, comprising 18 chapters and 159 articles, has been drafted as an umbrella law for 14 labor regulations made between 1887, during the Dutch colonial period, and 1969.
The bill, submitted to the House earlier this year, has attracted much criticism from various organizations even before its first reading last month.
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief has warned against exploitation of the bill for political purposes. President Soeharto has urged the public not to criticize the bill until after deliberation has been completed.
Among the bill's most contentious articles is the stipulation that workers must give the authorities three days notice of planned industrial action.
The IMF delegation is here to observe workers' conditions and visit the jailed labor leader, Muchtar Pakpahan. The delegation includes IMF general secretary Marcello Melentacchi, IG Metall international department head Albert Schunk and IMF senior executive Hiroshi Kamada.
The delegation said they had met representatives of the Ministry of Manpower's Jakarta office to discuss the bill.
Zwickel is also president of IG Metall, the German metalworkers union. He said that, if the bill was passed without revision of controversial articles, his organization would ask the German government to "approach" Jakarta.
Zwickel said the delegation had visited Pakpahan in hospital as a show of solidarity for Pakpahan's campaign for workers.
Pakpahan, leader of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union, has been in hospital since March because of a lung tumor, a blood clot in the brain and appendicitis.
Pakpahan has requested the government's permission to travel abroad for medical treatment. A team of doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo general hospital is again checking Pakpahan's condition to see whether he should be allowed to travel abroad for treatment.
Pakpahan was sentenced to three years in jail in November 1994 for inciting riots in Medan. (05)