Manpower bill stifles growth of civil society

Manpower bill stifles growth of civil society

JAKARTA (JP): Political and legal experts strongly criticized
the draft manpower bill yesterday, saying it failed to
accommodate the basic rights of workers and constricted the
development of civil society.

Political observer Muhammad A.S. Hikam said that, if passed
without fundamental changes, the bill would repress the two basic
tenets of civil society -- workers' ability to achieve self
empowerment and self sufficiency.

"As one of the strategic groups in Indonesian society ...
workers should have more room to struggle for their empowerment,"
said the political scientist from the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences.

"They can contribute to strengthening democracy in society
because real workers are also citizens holding authority," he
said.

The government is vigorously pushing the House of
Representatives to pass the bill before end of the current House
term next month.

The determination to pass the bill was evident by the fact
that certain legislators held meetings with government
representatives at a North Jakarta hotel to discuss the bill
despite the fact that the House was in recess.

The bill has come under sharp criticism from a host of
sections of society and labor groups.

However legislators have indicated that the bill will pass as
written.

Among the points of contention are articles concerning the
right to strike and form unions.

The bill consists of 18 chapters and 159 articles and is
expected to replace six ordinances and nine laws on labor affairs
issued between 1887 and 1969.

It will later serve as an umbrella law for all legislation in
manpower affairs.

Hikam warned that failure to pay proper attention to the
laborers' rights could bring about a political situation satiated
with tension.

Hikam was speaking at a one-day International Conference on
Trade Union Rights in Indonesia. The conference was organized
jointly by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), and six
international labor unions.

Speakers at the conference included YLBHI chairman Bambang
Widjojanto, the regional president of the International
Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical
Employees (FIET), Joe De Bruyn, the All Indonesian Workers
Association secretary-general, Andi Hisbuldin Patunru, and IMF
representative Timothy Ryan.

Bambang Widjojanto warned that a national labor law which did
not accommodate workers' basic rights could adversely affect
national exports.

"People in developed countries are pressuring their
governments to relate trade policies to the rights of workers in
their bilateral and multilateral trade agreements," he said.

Almost all of the speakers insisted the government drop the
current draft bill which they said violated international labor
standards.

De Bruyn said the bill's repression of association, lack of
right to bargain collectively and rejection of the right to
strike fundamentally defied trade union rights.

"All these are fundamental trade union rights which are set in
the Conventions of the International Labor Organization, and
which have been widely accepted throughout the world as being a
fundamental part of any democratic nation," he said.

He argued that the bill cannot protect workers in the era of
globalization of which Indonesia is now very much a part. (05)