NGOs urge government to review labor laws

JAKARTA (JP): More than 100 Indonesian and foreign non- governmental non-organizations called on the government to review the country's labor laws and to further increase official minimum wages.

The International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), in a statement at the end of its three-day annual conference in Canberra on Sunday, acknowledged the progress Indonesia had made on the labor front these last few years.

They hailed the government's resolution in enforcing minimum wage regulations but felt that minimum wages should be raised further to give workers a better living, according to the statement which was made available yesterday.

Nineteen Indonesian NGOs participated. They included the Indonesian Consumers Organization, the Indonesian Forum for Environment, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, and the Center for Women's Communication and Information. Their 115 foreign counterparts included Aid Watch of Australia, Article 19 of Great Britain, Bank Information Center and Environmental Defense Fund of the United States of America, Canadian NGO Network on Indonesia, Japan NGO Network on Indonesia and the Netherlands Organization for International Development Cooperation.

Together they make up INFID, which has met annually to discuss economic development problems in the country, especially in relation to foreign assistance used in funding the development.

In the face of objections from some companies, the government on April 1 went ahead in enforcing the new minimum wages which represented an average increase of 10.63 increase over the previous sums. Some intransigent companies have since been hit by workers strikes over demands for pay hikes.

While praising the government, the INFID statement pointed out that the official minimum wage levels set by the government barely meet the subsistence level as defined by the government itself.

The NGOs said existing labor laws have not made enough provisions on the question of child workers, women workers, migrant workers and indigenous people.

Besides labor, INFID also reviewed other development issues in Indonesia.

On land development, the conference called for a review of the Agrarian Law to accord greater protection to the indigenous people's rights to land.

"Article three of the Law does not guarantee the Indonesian indigenous people's rights to manage their natural resources according to their own traditions," read the statement.

The conference also called on the government to minimize the conversion of agricultural land into industrial sites.

It argued that because of financial pressures, many local administrations have been raising money locally through allowing the rapid conversion of land. "The central government has to share more of its resources with the regional administrations," it said.

The groups urged the government to weigh carefully the advantages and disadvantages of its plan to build nuclear power plants in Indonesia.

It said that the government should encourage a free debate about the nuclear power plant issue before making its decision on whether or not to go ahead with the plan. (imn)