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.