Minister tells employers, workers to settle labor disputes bilaterally
Minister tells employers, workers to settle labor disputes bilaterally
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Alleging that the labor dispute settlement committee (P4) was
plagued by corruption, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Jacob Nuwa Wea strongly urged employers and workers to settle
their industrial disputes between each other, without going to
P4.
Nuwa Wea also said that dispute settlement through the
committee was found to be ineffective because P4 took too much
time, sometimes years, to solve industrial disputes.
"I suggest that both parties meet to reach a common agreement
at the plant level. It is the best way to settle a dispute in
industrial relations," he told a seminar on industrial relations
here.
The minister warned employers not to ask security authorities
to intervene in labor disputes, because they usually made it
worse.
Under the current mechanism, the committee for labor dispute
settlement at the central and regional levels could take up to
six years before any legal decision can be produced. Judges who
sit at the committee are also reportedly notorious for extorting
employers who are implicated in disputes with their workers.
The government and the House of Representatives are currently
deliberating a bill on the settlement of labor disputes that will
disband the regional and central committees and replace it with
an ad hoc labor court. The bill is to replace Laws No. 12/1964
and No 22/1957 on the settlement of industrial disputes.
Under the bill, all labor disputes must be settled within 115
days.
Nuwa Wea also called on the workers not to resort to strikes
and demonstrations as a means to achieve their goals. "Leave
those methods and embark on dialog to reach a common agreement,"
he said.
Director of the Jakarta Office of International Labor
Organization (ILO) Alan Boulton concurred with the minister,
saying that there were more benefits for all involved if disputes
could be resolved at the plant level.
"Bipartite workplace cooperation ultimately will benefit the
company concerned and the workers themselves," he said, adding
that benign work conditions could boost productivity and welfare
of the workers.
He said that there were many examples in Indonesia that
discussion and negotiation leading to collective labor agreements
created better relations, instead of conflict, dispute, factory
closure and the inevitable loss of jobs.
In a related development, president director of state-owned
social security insurance company PT Jamsostek Achmad Djunaidi
took his oath of office for another three-year term with a pledge
the he and his team would work hard to continue to improve the
company's performance and revamp its structure in efforts to
provide better service for workers and improve their social
welfare.
Director of operations Djoko Sungkono was also sworn in for
the next three years to complete its ongoing reorganization
programs to improve the company's performance.
Sentot Widharto, chief of Jamsostek's regional office in East
Java, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara, was appointed as director of
human resources and general affairs to replace Bambang Purwoko
while B.M. Tri Lestari, chief of the accounting division was
installed as director of planning, development and information to
replace Sriyono.
Widjokongko Purpoyo was appointed as director of finance to
replace Lukmanul Hakim while Samuel Tobing was appointed as
director of investments to replace Andy Alamsyah.
According reliable sources at the office of the minister for
state-owned enterprises, Djunaidi's reappointment was a reward
for the company's good performance under his leadership over the
last three years.
The company's total income increased to Rp 982.6 billion
(US$115 million) in 2002, up from Rp 320.6 billion in 2001 and Rp
229 billion in 2000. In 1999, Jamsostek suffered a loss of 77.2
billion.
Its assets reached Rp 21.3 trillion in 2002, up from Rp 16.5
trillion in 2001 and Rp 11.4 trillion in 2000.