Labor hurdles mar birth of new manpower law

By Dwi Atmanta and Budiman Moerdijat

JAKARTA (JP): The passage of the controversial manpower bill this year has laid a new milestone in the country's labor history, as it was born amid workers' growing outcries over the poor protection of their rights.

Not to mention the fraud allegations that tarnished the making of the new law which was signed by President Soeharto early in October.

Some observers say Indonesia's labor record this year was poor. The lack of job security cost many workers their pride, jobs and even their lives. Particular attention, however, should be given to the plight of migrant workers as their suffering seemed to eclipse reports about those who made it abroad.

The beheading of female worker Soleha Anam Kadiran in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in September, followed by the planned execution of fellow worker, Nasiroh Karmudin, was evidence of the poor record.

Soleha was ruled guilty of killing her employer, as was Nasiroh. But the latter, who admitted to killing her employer after being repeatedly sexually assaulted, escaped the death penalty after the relatives of the victim pardoned her.

The leniency capped weeks of rescue efforts through legal and diplomatic channels. The government stepped in only after it was widely criticized of dragging its feet in both cases.

Soleha and Nasiroh were among thousands of illegal Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia, most of whom held fake passports.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief unveiled that 359 other Indonesian workers were waiting sentencing in Saudi Arabian jails for various offenses, including immigration violations. Latief dismissed reports that 19 Indonesians were facing the death penalty.

The similarly poor fate befell many Indonesian unskilled workers in Malaysia and Singapore. The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, for instance, reported the alleged rape of Cartiah, an Indonesian worker, by her Malaysian employer and the suicide of another female worker, Talem, who fell from the eighth floor of her employer's flat in Singapore in mid-October.

While expressing his concern about unprotected workers, Latief blamed the growing number of Indonesian illegal workers abroad on illegal brokers who lured job seekers with promises of big salaries.

Latief said last month 700 brokers were involved in various counterfeiting scams, including giving fake passports to many underaged girls so they could work abroad.

Airlift

Once they were abroad, the illegal workers became a problem to the receiving countries and Indonesia. In the end, the government found it had no other choice but to repatriate the workers from Saudi Arabia and Malaysia after the two countries launched a crackdown on illegal workers in October.

Joint airlift operations to repatriate 35,000 problematic workers from Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were launched by the government and the Armed Forces.

Riwanto Tirtosudarmo of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences was among activists who accused the government of treating migrant workers as mere commodities. Once abroad, these workers were prone to exploitation and abuse, he said.

The House of Representatives joined in the criticism, saying that an investigation conducted by a team of eight legislators in mid-November revealed that poor coordination among government institutions had opened the way for illegal brokerage, passport counterfeiting and abuse.

Riwanto lamented that the Manpower Law had failed to include any stipulations on the protection of migrant workers.

Latief said in an emotional speech marking the House's endorsement of the bill on Sept. 12 that the government accepted significant changes in the draft to accommodate workers' aspirations and protect their right to strike without losing their wages.

A maximum sentence of six months in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 50 million (US$10,000) will be imposed on employers who take punitive measures against striking workers.

The government also decided to include Idul Fitri bonuses among workers' basic rights regulated in the bill, while major changes appear in the form of 50 extra articles which add to the original 159 proposed by the government.

The law, which abolishes 11 older ordinances and laws on labor affairs, will only become effective on Oct. 1 after the government finishes drawing up supporting regulations.

Criticism had been voiced over the content of the law which, some alleged, treated workers as a group of people with the potential of threatening national stability. The process of its deliberation also came under fire.

Latief braved a wave of allegations that he had used Rp 7.1 billion of state-owned workers insurance company PT Jamsostek's funds to grease the House's wheels to approve the bill. He denied the accusations, but admitted that he had asked for Rp 3.1 billion to finance accommodation and secretariat expenditures during two months of deliberation by legislators.

He later said that President Soeharto ordered the use of Jamsostek's funds.

But this did not put an end to investigations by the Development and Finance Comptroller and the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutor's Office into the alleged misuse of funds.

Death

To add insult to injury, the labor scene also witnessed the death of workers in several boat accidents and several massive workers' strikes demanding a pay rise.

Thirty-eight illegal job seekers drowned when their wooden boat carrying them to Johor, Malaysia collided with a tanker in the Strait of Malacca in July. Another 22 workers were missing in an accident in about the same area last month.

The year also saw massive layoffs by banks and companies affected by the monetary crisis that rocked the country. In Central Java, 40,000 workers were laid off from August to December.

More layoffs are feared to take place next year. A labor activist, Bomer Pasaribu, predicted that more than one million employees would lose their jobs next year due to the decline in economic activities.

Indonesian workers look set to face a long haul of difficulties next year.