Labor law enforcement to be deferred: Govt

Labor law enforcement to be deferred: Govt

JAKARTA (JP): The government decided on Tuesday to defer the
enforcement of a controversial labor law for one year in order to
make some revisions.

Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris said President B.J. Habibie
"eventually" agreed to postpone the law's enforcement until
August 1999 to allow the government and the House of
Representatives to review the legislation.

"The ministry will invite representatives of workers,
employers, the government, non-governmental organizations and
various experts to discuss the law again with the House of
Representatives," he said.

The law, ratified by the House in February, was scheduled to
take effect on Oct. 1 to replace legislation enacted in 1969.

Fahmi said aspects of the law that would be focussed on during
the review touched on labor unions, collective labor agreements,
strikes, industrial disputes, migrant workers, child labor and
administrative sanctions.

Workers, activists and employers alike have criticized the law
and had demanded an immediate revision.

Separately, Wilhelmus Bokha, the deputy chairman of the All-
Indonesia Workers Union Federation (FSPSI), said the law should
stipulate the establishment of joint audit teams within companies
to ensure transparency and to help create harmonious relations
between labor and management.

"Many industrial disputes have emerged in the past because of
employers' secrecy (regarding company profits)," he said.

He said the law should also clearly allow freedom of
association for workers.

Labor strikes should not be limited to the work place as it is
stated in the law, he said, adding that workers should be allowed
to go to the streets, the House of Representatives and to the
Ministry of Manpower to air their aspirations.

Poerbadi Prayitno, the secretary-general of the Indonesian
Employers Association (Apindo), hailed the government's decision
to review the law, saying the country needed a labor law which
benefited both workers and employers.

"The new labor law is too emotional because it threatens very
stiff sanctions against violating companies," he said.

Workers have pressed the government to review the law's
chapters on labor unions, collective labor agreements, industrial
relations, strikes, the wage system and dismissals because they
did not guarantee worker rights.

Employers have complained that the law was too heavy-handed
since it stipulated fines of Rp 50 million to Rp 200 million and
jail sentences of up to six months for violating companies and
managers.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have also attacked the
government for failing to include legal protection for children
and migrant workers since millions of school-aged children were
working and a large number of Indonesians were employed overseas.

Sharp public criticism shortly followed House deliberations on
the law when it was reported that then minister of manpower Abdul
Latief had used Rp 4.1 billion from state-owned PT Jamsostek to
finance the discussions at a luxury hotel. (prb/rms)