Manpower bill will be passed today
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives is scheduled to pass the manpower bill today, claiming that the controversial document has undergone radical changes after two months of deliberation.
Trade unionists Bomer Pasaribu, Imam Sudarwo and Marzuki Achmad said at a press conference yesterday that the bill introduced articles aimed at protecting workers' basic rights.
They said the original version of the bill submitted by the government did not clearly state those provisions.
"After extremely hard work due to limited time, the House completed a new bill which accommodates aspirations from various groups in society," the unionists, also House legislators representing Golkar, said in a joint statement.
They are members of a House committee set up to deliberate the bill.
The new bill necessitates the establishment of an agency in charge of ensuring high productivity among workers, and whose members are appointed by the President. There were no details as to how the body would carry out its task.
The bill also necessitates the establishment of a council in charge of job training for workers and affirms the need for the establishment of cooperatives as well as the opportunity for workers to receive shares in a company.
According to the bill, workers' salaries will be based on an "appropriate standard of living" rather than on the existing concept of minimum physical needs.
Those who violate the new manpower law will face penalties ranging from being reprimanded to revocation of a company's license, a maximum fine of Rp 400 million (US$138,000) and a maximum sentence of four years in jail.
The final draft of the bill adds 40 articles to the original 159 and cuts down the number of recommendations for the establishment of implementation directives from 39 to only 13.
If the bill is enacted into law, it will abolish 11 regulations on manpower affairs. Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief had previously said that the bill would replace 14 ordinances and laws on manpower affairs.
The surviving regulations are a 1951 law on labor supervision, a 1957 law on labor dispute settlements and a 1964 law on dismissal.
The new bill also suggests the establishment of laws on trade unions and labor courts.
Marzuki, who chairs the government-sanctioned All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation, believed the controversy shrouding the bill's deliberation was because of the complexity of the document.
"It covers a lot of things and involves many interests, not only workers, but businesspeople, the government, non- governmental organizations, experts, human rights activists, women activists and so on," he said.
Criticism has been lodged by both domestic and overseas non- governmental organizations, mostly saying that the bill did not protect workers' rights.
A group of youths also rallied yesterday at the House to oppose the manpower bill. They demanded a total revision of the bill which they said ignored workers' basic rights. (amd)