Minister rules out ILO mediation in dispute

Minister rules out ILO mediation in dispute

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said on
Friday that intervention from any international forum in the
settlement of labor disputes in Indonesia was not necessary,
insisting that such issues should be resolved domestically.

Addressing the management of Jakarta's Shangri-la Hotel at his
office, Jacob reiterated that his ministry could still function
as a mediator for any labor disputes.

"We refuse any pressure either from inside or outside the
country. The most important thing is a peaceful solution to the
dispute. There is no need to immediately take the matter to the
International Labor Organization (ILO)," he said.

"My office is open to bridge the gaps between labor unions and
the management of companies," he added.

Last week, the ILO's committee for freedom of association sent
a recommendation to the government, asking Jakarta to guarantee
the reemployment of dismissed Shangri-la workers and to help
clarify legal complaints and assault against members of the
Shangri-la Hotel Independent Workers' Union (SPMS).

The case came to the surface last year when the hotel's
management dismissed and questioned SPMS members following
rallies demanding a change in the management's policies regarding
workers' salaries and welfare.

Hotel management took the case to court, which later ordered
seven of the union's executives to pay some Rp 20.7 billion (US$2
million) in compensation for losses incurred during the rallies.

Meanwhile, 81 of the dismissed workers appealed to the
management to reemploy them.

The government and the Shangri-la management are of the
opinion that the ILO recommendation is not mandatory.

Muljo Rahardjo, a Shangri-la commissioner, said at Friday's
meeting that they would prefer to sit down with the former
workers to settle their problems.

"How can we do what the ILO has recommended because it was
only a report. We cannot reemploy the former workers because
there is not an acceptable argument for it," he told the forum.

Separately, labor activist Arist Merdeka Sirait said that the
ILO's intervention in labor disputes was inevitable because
Indonesia had accepted ILO conventions, including those on the
freedom of workers to form an independent union.

"The labor disputes caused by circumvention of the union's
freedom can only be solved through a political approach.
Moreover, the existing mechanism doesn't have the authority to
hand down sanctions against people violating the principles of
the right to associate.

"There should be a labor court under the general judiciary to
try labor disputes. Such a court is needed to answer the
international challenge of proper treatment for workers," he
said.