Labor standards set for Aceh workers

JAKARTA: The Aceh provincial labor office, domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations, and labor unions have established guidelines on the employment of construction workers in the tsunami-hit province.

Mustafa Zaenal, head of the Aceh office of state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek, said the International Labor Organization-sponsored guidelines covered 10 priority areas, including social security programs, compliance with minimum wages, on-the-job training and the promotion of equal opportunities.

"With this agreement, no more NGOs will disobey the 2003 Labor Law and the 1992 Social Security Law, and workers will have legal certainty in their employment, wages and health and pension benefits," he said.

The guidelines also regulate severance pay for workers, he said.

The Aceh and Nias Reconstruction Agency and some 40 local and foreign NGOs have employed thousands of workers for an estimated US$7.1 billion of reconstruction work in the province. --JP