Jamsostek promises to improve workers' welfare

Jamsostek promises to improve workers' welfare

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Puncak

State pension fund and workplace insurer PT Jamsostek vowed on
Sunday to allocate part of its profit this year to improve
workers' welfare in the next.

Jamsostek president Achmad Djunaidi said the company was
expected to book a profit of about Rp 3 trillion (US$340) this
year.

A majority of this would be given back to workers by raising
the interest rates on their pension funds to 8.5 percent per
annum, increasing compensation for those in workplace accidents
and developing more low-cost houses and flats for workers.

"Jamsostek stakeholders and the management have decided to
give a bigger share of the company's profit to workers ... the
hike in compensation for workers in accidents will be decided in
the immediate future," he said here on Sunday.

Djunaidi said management along with the government, as the
majority shareholder, had also agreed to hold back a larger
portion of the government's dividend this year and use it to
develop more low-cost houses and cheap flats in industrial zones
across the country.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has decided to launch a
secondary mortgage finance (SMF) scheme to encourage housing
developers to issue housing bonds guaranteed by the government
and Jamsostek will buy the bonds to help workers pay for simple
houses and flats," he said.

This year, Jamsostek disbursed Rp 295 billion to help workers
buy low-cost houses and build low-cost flats in industrial zones
in North Sumatra, Riau, Jakarta, West Jakarta and South Sulawesi.
Jamsostek is scheduled to construct more cheap flats in Jakarta
and its outskirts, Surabaya and North Sumatra.

Operations director Indra Haryadi said besides getting more
workers into social security programs, Jamsostek and the
government were considering raising the insurance premium in a
bid to give more benefits to workers.

"Jamsostek premiums are only 7 percent: 2 percent from workers
and the remaining 5 percent from employers. Jamsostek could not
do many things to help improve the workers' welfare because of
the low insurance premium," he said, adding that Indonesia
pension premiums were the lowest in Southeast Asia.

Despite the large profits, Jamsostek could not afford good
health care programs, higher compensation for workers in
workplace accidents and bigger payments in the pension fund
programs because of the low premium, he said.

"So far, Jamsostek has assets of Rp 30 trillion with the
participation of 23 million workers contributing to four social
security programs -- health care, life insurance, occupational
accidents and pension funds," he said.

The premiums had to be raised if the government wanted workers
to have quality of life in their retirement, he said.

Indra said Jamsostek would also enhance cooperation with the
Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to enforce Law No. 3/1992 to
net workers into the social security programs and to help improve
the company's service to workers.

"Out of the 104 million workforce, only 24 million workers are
participating in the social security programs and only 13 million
are actively paying for their premiums. The remaining 11 million
have not paid premiums because of the prolonged economic crisis.

"Many companies have also not yet enrolled their workers into
the programs and many others have registered only a part of their
workforce with Jamsostek," he said.