Jamsostek pledges severance pay for workers
Jamsostek pledges severance pay for workers
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned social insurance company PT Jamsostek has pledged to
continue providing assistance for laid-off workers and their
families, a director says.
Jamsostek's Director of Operation and Service Djoko Sungkono
said the company allocated much of its 2002 and 2003 net profits
totaling almost Rp 1 trillion (US$119 million) to help dismissed
and laid-off workers.
The program will cover over 3,200 workers dismissed in 2003
alone, excluding scholarships for more than 12,000 school-aged
children of low-income workers in industrial estates.
"Jamsostek has no legal obligation to provide severance pay
for dismissed workers, but they need assistance at least during
the first few months after their dismissal," Djoko said on
Wednesday.
Many foreign labor unions and professional associations have
recently expressed grave concern of the increasing labor
dismissals and the low minimum wage level in Indonesia despite
the increasing number of labor unions and a new labor law that
provides for better protection for workers.
They called on the government to set a humane minimum wage,
provide a less expensive medical program and low-cost housing to
help improve the welfare of blue-collar workers.
Jamsostek's assets, according to official government data,
total Rp 33 trillion, most of which is collected from the 28,000
companies and more than 22 million workers participating in the
healthcare program, occupational accident program, death
insurance and pension funds. A large portion of the assets have
been deposited in state-owned banks and invested in profitable
companies and stock markets and earn revenue in that way.
Jamsostek has withheld 50 percent of the government's dividend
to provide soft loans to enable workers' families to run small-
scale businesses, such as food stalls and basic commodity shops
near industrial zones.
Djoko also pointed out that Jamsostek built a low-cost
apartment for workers in Jababeka industrial area in Cikarang,
near Bekasi, West Java.
The apartments, built in cooperation with the West Java
provincial administration, can accommodate around 6,000 single
workers. Development of more apartments in industrial areas like
Tangerang, Bogor, Medan and Surabaya is on the company's schedule
this year.
Jamsostek has also enhanced cooperation with state-owned
hospitals across the country to build clinics to provide free
medical treatment for workers, Djoko said.
He added Jamsostek was approaching businesspeople from
Malaysia, Singapore and China to build workers' hospitals. For
the project, Jamsostek has prepared Rp 200 billion in
participating shares.
At least 23 million Indonesian workers are included in the
healthcare program run by Jamsostek.