Regions accused of ethnic discrimination in the workplace
Regions accused of ethnic discrimination in the workplace
Panca Nugraha
The Jakarta Post
Mataram
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said on
Tuesday that the early implementation of the regional autonomy
law had brought about one negative impact so far: ethnic
discrimination in the workplace.
Discrimination varied among regions, but the most obvious was
the preference of locals to migrants from outside the regencies
or provinces.
This has been a direct result of the misinterpretation of Law
No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy.
"The misinterpretation has apparently affected laborers," he
said after attending a Muhammadiyah meeting at Lombok Raya Hotel
in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara.
"There is ethnic discrimination in many regencies where they
employ locals. Fees have been imposed on workers or employees
from other regencies," said Nuwa Wea.
Nuwa Wea noted that discrimination in the workplace violates
both national and international laws.
Indonesia's Law No. 14/1969 on labor clearly bans
discrimination in the workplace.
In addition, Indonesia ratified two years ago the
International Labor Organization (ILO) convention against
discrimination in the workplace.
Nuwa Wea said no single region was allowed to draft labor
regulations that contradict the Labor Law and some international
conventions that Indonesia has ratified, including the ILO
convention.
"Indonesia ratified some international laws (related to
manpower), we must therefore impose similar laws in all parts of
the country," he said.
The Regional Autonomy Law was not designed to grant each
region freedom to impose their own employment regulations that
would allow ethnic discrimination as it could endanger the unity
of Indonesia, he said.
"Regional autonomy has been misunderstood. The Regional
Autonomy Law was made within the frame of the unitary state of
Indonesia. Workers from West Nusa Tenggara can work in Irian Jaya
or other areas," he said.
He noted that the discrimination had occurred because each
regency or mayoralty had made its own interpretation of regional
autonomy.
"Its misinterpretation is also happening in the Ministry of
Manpower and Transmigration. The names at the ministry's office
vary in some regencies," he said.
The regional autonomy law governs autonomy in regencies and
mayoralties, but not in provinces.
Nuwa Wea, nevertheless, said regional autonomy ideally started
with the provinces first, and then went down to regencies and
mayoralties. This way, its familiarization would be more
effective, although it may take longer.
Months before the law was put into effect on Jan. 1 of this
year, the central government had launched a campaign to introduce
regional autonomy programs to the provinces. Regents and mayors
joined the campaign.
Speaking on transmigration programs, Nuwa Wea said that land-
related problems were the main constraint.
"In the past, transmigration was just moving people from a
densely populated area to another more spacious area, ignoring
the fact that many locals did not receive compensation for their
land which was used for transmigration sites," he cited. "Now
many landowners are demanding compensation."
"Compensation must be paid before resettlement programs can
continue," he said.