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)