Jakarta's 34,000 firms fail to provide facilities
Jakarta's 34,000 firms fail to provide facilities
JAKARTA (JP): Not one of the 34,000 companies operating in
Jakarta has paid proper attention to their worker's welfare as
required by regulation, a city councilor has said.
The chairman of the council's commission for people's
welfare, Atje Mulyadi, said yesterday that none of the companies
have implemented the decree for the improvement of workers'
welfare by providing them with facilities and allowances as
stipulated.
Decree No. 7/1989 states that a company is obliged to provide
their workers with medical services, religious centers, uniforms,
cafeterias, sports centers, recreation, transportation, housing,
dormitories, rest rooms, meeting rooms, child care centers,
insurance, cooperatives, and basic education for them and their
children, Atje said. "The workers also deserve financial aid in
case they or someone in their families die," he added.
"But none of the companies have provided all that the
regulations require. Some companies have given their workers some
facilities, but other company owners claim they know nothing
about the decree," Atje said.
The councilors found during impromptu visits to several
companies that some of them included uniforms and transport
allowances in the workers' wages.
"The wages have nothing to do with any allowances. Workers
deserve to be picked up at work places and taken home. If the
employers cannot provide the workers with buses then they must
give the workers transport allowances in compensation, apart from
the wages," he said.
Atje said that the companies' failure to implement the
regulations was the result of the administration's failure in
promoting the decree to the companies and the workers.
The city manpower agency should have worked together with the
city Manpower Ministry office in promoting the regulations.
Cooperation
The city manpower agency's operation is under the auspices of
City Hall, while the city manpower ministry office is responsible
to the Ministry of Manpower.
"There has been poor coordination between the two offices. The
fact that only small number of companies are implementing the
decree can be cited as evidence," he said.
He said poor law enforcement is another factor encouraging the
companies to ignore the regulations on workers' welfare.
"Punishment for the violators is too light," he said.
The decree stipulates that violator may get three months
imprisonment or be fined of Rp 50,000 (US$23.25).
In a related development, another member of the commission,
Salam Sumangat, said that the upcoming increase in the minimum
wage in the city will have no positive impact on workers if the
prices of goods and food also increase.
He said that the city wage commission has proposed to increase
the minimum wage from Rp 4,600 to Rp 5,400 per day. It is still
being reviewed by the ministry of manpower.
The government plans to announce the new minimum wage
nationwide soon. (yns)