Legislators condemn military's plan to meddle in labor disputes
Legislators condemn military's plan to meddle in labor disputes
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators and a labor activist criticized the
military's plan to meddle in labor conflicts, warning that the
policy will only worsen the already mounting problem.
In separate interviews with The Jakarta Post yesterday, they
said the military's intervention is both unnecessary and
"worrying" on the heels of the increasing number of labor
disputes sweeping across Indonesia's industrial centers.
Legislators Sabam Sirait and Royani Haminullah and labor
activist Teten Masduki were responding to the plan made public by
the chief of the military's socio-political department, Lt. Gen.
Hartono, in a seminar on Tuesday.
The general said the Coordinating Agency for the Strengthening
of National Stability (Bakorstanas), which oversees internal
security, would "coordinate" efforts to settle labor disputes.
The plan was announced less than a month after Indonesia
witnessed massive worker protests in the North Sumatra capital of
Medan that turned into anti-Chinese riots in which one man was
killed and dozens of factories and shops attacked.
The government set up Bakorstanas in 1988 to replace the
powerful Kopkamtib (Command for the Restoration of Law and
Order). The military agency is in charge of coordinating all
efforts to safeguard national stability.
Justifying the policy, Hartono said SPSI, the sole government-
sanctioned labor union, has failed to channeled its members'
demands, resulting in widespread labor unrest.
He also charged that the manpower minister has yet to work
hard enough to uphold Pancasila industrial relations.
He said if not handled in a coordinated manner at an early
stage, labor disputes could continue to disintegrate into
violence.
"Bakorstanas' involvement should not be considered as the
military's involvement in labor disputes, issues which are
usually flaunted in international fora in order to tarnish
Indonesia's image."
Sirait, a member of the House of Representatives Commission I
in charge of security, said Bakorstanas' plan is confusing
because the government has dropped a regulation that allows
military intervention in labor disputes.
He recalled a guarantee from the Armed Forces (ABRI) that non-
military intervention in labor disputes would be applied to cover
companies outside Jakarta and eventually all over Indonesia.
"Does the latest plan means that the military wants to take
over the functions of the Ministry of Manpower, which it
apparently considers unable to handle labor disputes?" he asked.
He also put forth the question of whether the government
should allow the establishment of a new labor union which truly
defends its members, if, indeed, SPSI has failed to fulfill this
function.
The government has refused to acknowledge SBSI (Indonesian
Prosperous Labor Union) and SBMSK (Solidarity Free Trade Union)
on the grounds that their founders are not workers as the laws
require.
Royani, a member of House Commission VI on manpower affairs,
described Bakorstanas' plan as "worrying" because the heavy
security approach that the military is in the habit of applying
could suppress the workers' wishes to voice their concern
constitutionally, such as by demonstrating.
"The intervention will only spread fear among laborers in
their efforts to strive for better well-being," he said, adding
that he appreciated the military's good intentions behind the
plan.
Masduki, a labor activist from the Indonesian Legal Institute
(LBH), described the military's planned meddling in labor
disputes as an "extraordinary" move. "If Bakorstanas goes ahead
with the plan, it would mean the return of repression in the
settlement of labor conflict."
Masduki said that what Indonesian workers need at present is a
fair mechanism for settlement of labor disputes rather than
Bakorstanas' involvement. "Military meddling will only further
complicate the already complex labor problems and spark
international criticism," he added.
He pointed out that such intervention in a labor dispute in a
watch company in Sidoarjo, East Java, recently triggered a legal
battle when the workers dismissed by the local military sought a
court settlement. (pan)