Manpower minister must prove skeptics wrong

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta

Newly appointed Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris should not necessarily wait for the National Planning Board (Bappenas) to draw up the tasks for his first 100 days in office or to design long-term programs over the next five years, because a number of urgent labor issues await his immediate attention.

What must he do to administer shock therapy? It is enough for him to take action against the illicit smuggling rings involved in the women and children trafficking and against those unauthorized companies supplying workers overseas without necessary documents -- or, he could enforce a harsh law on labor export and protection.

To convince workers and labor unions? He should ensure that all Muslim workers receive the obligatory annual Ramadhan bonus at least seven days before Idul Fitri and that minimum wages are set according to basic human needs -- or Keperluan Hidup Layak (KHL) -- as required by the new Labor Law.

To win public support? He should take concrete measures to enforce labor policies and regulations across all industries and eliminate the high-cost economy, one of the main reasons why Indonesia is no longer attractive to foreign investors.

However, many parties -- especially workers, labor unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dealing with labor issues -- foresee a dark cloud covering the labor sector over the next five years following the reappointment of Fahmi as manpower minister as the successor to Jacob Nuwa Wea.

Strong skepticism has emerged among workers, labor unions and NGOs in the manner by which the members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's United Indonesia Cabinet were recruited and in particular, in regards the new manpower minister's background and track record.

Their difficulty in accepting the professionalism of the new Cabinet and anticipating the changes it would make is understandable, as political factions supporting Susilo's candidacy were locked in a tug-of-war to procure ministerial positions in the new government. This behind-the-scenes wrangling was indicated by the mounting friction among stakeholders and the delayed announcement of the Cabinet lineup following Susilo's induction ceremony on Oct. 20.

According to reliable sources close to Susilo, Fahmi yielded and finally accepted the post of manpower minister after having lobbied for and failed to secure an appointment as trade minister.

His lobbying was consistent with his background in business as a president of the Kodel Group but, at the same time, it raised a doubt among labor activists as to whether he was serious about making changes in the labor sector.

Many parties have seen Fahmi's appointment to Susilo's Cabinet within the context of ouster from the Golkar Party. Fahmi and several other fellow politicians had campaigned for Susilo-Jusuf Kalla in the Sept. 20 election runoff instead of the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hamzah Haz pair, which had the full backing of Golkar and several other parties. Golkar thus dismissed Fahmi and his cohorts for their dissidence.

Workers and labor activists became even more skeptical of Fahmi because he was seen to be responsible for the rampant extortion of returning migrant workers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and for the liberalization of the national insurance scheme for migrant workers.

Fahmi, who was manpower minister from May 23, 1998, through November 1999 in the Habibie administration, came under fire when he established Terminal 3 at the airport as a special lounge for repatriating migrant workers. The new terminal instead became a fertile hunting ground for corrupt officials, agents and public transportation crew to extort the returning workers.

Meanwhile, his policy to liberalize the workers' insurance scheme implemented by state-owned PT Jamsostek and his idea to end Jamsostek's monopoly in the social security sector have sparked strong objections from workers and labor unions.

Although many insurance companies have been appointed to provide insurance for overseas migrant workers, most have been left unprotected.

Against this fact, about Rp 5 billion has been collected per month from departing workers, but almost nothing has been paid in compensation to those who have experienced problems during either their recruitment and training period or during their employment abroad.

Furthermore, Fahmi also introduced the privatization of workers' social security programs modeled on the in Chilean system, but the controversial plan, which prompted resistance from both employers and workers, disappeared from public view in 1999 during the transition to the Abdurrahman Wahid administration.

If Fahmi has a strong commitment to progress and wants to prove himself a professional, he must tackle several urgent and challenging issues in both the short- and long term.

Fahmi should encourage employers, especially large investors, to create industrial harmony in line with Law No. 13/2003 by avoiding mass labor dismissals and at the very least, meeting the minimum wage requirement.

He should also annul the circular issued by Nuwa Wea to delay setting KHL-based minimum wages because of the prolonged economic crisis and instead establish standard parameters for setting minimum wages in accordance with the law. Companies facing financial difficulties after being audited by public accountants should be exempted from the new minimum wage rulings.

For the long term, he should review all regulations considered unfavorable to the interests of employers and workers.

In addition, along with all stakeholders, Fahmi needs to clear up all regulatory barriers that have made Indonesia unattractive to foreign investors, including: free labor movement, illegal and legal fees, invisible costs, absence of legal certainty, security disturbances and damaged regional infrastructure.

By eliminating these investment barriers, the government could convince the international community of an improved investment climate and lead the way toward the gradual resolution of the current 9.6-million strong unemployment.

The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post, and can be reached at ridwan@thejakartapost.com.