Labor standards set for Aceh workers

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