RI journalists lack protection

By Lukas Kuwarso

JAKARTA (JP): Journalists face high risks in the workplace but there is insufficient legal basis for their protection.

On Nov. 23, 1998, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (known by its local acronym AJI), received a letter from Britain's National Union of Journalists (NUJ), reporting its recent loss in its lawsuit against the Financial Times (FT) daily.

The suit was filed on behalf of four NUJ members who suffered occupational accidents while working as FT reporters. FT's management was accused of having neglected to provide proper working facilities, resulting in the employees suffering repetitive strain injury.

According to the letter signed by NUJ president Mark Turnbull and an executive of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), NUJ must now pay 700,000 in compensation to FT.

Similar letters have also been sent to journalists' associations throughout the world in a call for international solidarity to help NUJ pay the compensation.

The letter said NUJ had proven itself to be at the vanguard in seeking justice for its members and had set a legal precedent which may serve as a lesson for other workers' unions. The story illustrates part of the job of a journalists' association in Britain, a developed country with a strong tradition of press freedom and journalistic independence.

In developing Indonesia, where the press is still in a disadvantaged situation, the same story is unimaginable.

It would be considered absurd in Indonesia because the case seems "trivial" and no precedent exists of a journalists' organization filing a lawsuit on a compensation claim for its members.

For five decades, the country's sole journalistic organization was the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). Despite professing itself to be a professional organization, it has thus far served the interests of the government over those of its members.

In other words, Indonesian journalists have never had an organization which fights for their rights and aspirations, protects their occupational health and promotes their welfare. The problem may be typical of a developing country, where getting a job is regarded as a divine gift and talking about rights a luxury.

Indeed, this is where the confusion lies. In Indonesia, the job of a journalist is considered more a profession than labor. A laborer -- euphemistically termed workers during the New Order era -- is someone working for money. A laborer receives overtime pay when he works past his set hour. A laborer is also protected by the manpower law and his pay must not be lower than the government-stipulated minimum wage.

An Indonesian journalist tends to fall into the trap of pseudo-pride when he assumes himself to uphold the "profession" of news reporting.

Truth is revealed in the working conditions of journalists in the country. It is an open secret that journalists lack clarity about their working hours, earnings, welfare benefits and occupational protection.

When doing his job, a journalist is protected only by a collective labor agreement (KKB) determined by the company where he works. Unfortunately, not all press companies are in possession of written agreements. A journalist must therefore take the agreement for granted, whether or not it sets out clear and adequate details about his rights as an employee.

In the New Order era, the government introduced a concept of a Pancasila-based industrial labor relations (HKIP) in industrial companies. In press circles, this was accommodated by means of allotting 20 percent of corporate shares to the firm's employees. Although the provision of the shares is regulated in the law on Press Principles of 1982 and maintained in the bill on the press now under deliberation, it is still unclear how this provision should be enforced.

No press companies have actually complied. Some financially successful press companies have indeed tried to meet the provision but in the form of a profit-sharing scheme. This means that if the company can post a large profit, a portion goes to the employees in the form of dividends. The question is whether employees in this manner enjoy the portion of the corporate shares to which they are supposedly entitled.

Distribution of dividends seems more like "bestowal of generosity" from the capitalists (company owners) to the employees. The employees, who should be entitled to 20 percent of the company's shares, cannot participate in making a decision on determining the company's actual profit, including how big is the profit allocation to them.

The significance of controlling the shares should actually lie in the employees' right to participate in the process of making the company's strategic decisions. It means employees would have their representatives on the board of commissioners and the representatives would take part in the decision-making process. Representation of the employees on the company's board of commissioners could prevent firms from making investments in non- press businesses such as prawn-breeding farms, a footwear factory, hotel construction and so forth. In fact, the profit should be returned to the employees for the improvement of their welfare and working conditions.

Although the share ownership is an interesting concept, the realization is not simple, while the Pancasila-based industrial style seeking to emphasize harmony is not usual in a real labor relationship.

Industrial relations between capital owners and workers are usually characterized by "tensions" because both have their respective vested interests. An owner, for instance, hopes to make the biggest profit out of the smallest capital, while a worker wants to earn as much as possible by doing as little work as possible. The tension may be overcome if the owner and the worker have equal bargaining positions.

A worker may have a stronger bargaining position if there is a labor union, which will improve worker conditions through collective bargaining. It can also create solidarity among workers when the company treats them unfairly, for example, in cases of dismissals and wage cuts.

A labor union can also organize the relationship between a capital owner and workers so there is an agreement for common adherence. The establishment of this union is aimed particularly at ensuring that a company will not ignore a worker's interest. In the absence of a labor union, a worker will always depend on a company owner's "mercy or good intention".

However, everything connected with the industrial relationship between a capitalist and a worker may be properly established only if matters of significant substance have been thoroughly dealt with. If the state, like the New Order regime, continues to interfere with everything, the first task of a workers' union will be to oppose all the constraints put up by the state. This was exactly what AJI sought to do from its inception.

Now that political constraints have been reduced (through the simplification of licensing procedures and allowing journalists to join any professional-related organizations) the next task awaiting AJI is to turn itself into a professional labor union. This is indeed a difficult job and will take time to complete.

Since the simplification of the press licensing procedures, the government has issued licenses to over 400 news media, of which about 50 media publications have seen the light of day. If each new media publication recruits 10 new journalists, the number of Indonesian journalists has now increased by about 500 people in the past six months.

If the 300 new media publications start operating next year, the number of journalists will increase from about 7,000 at present to about 10,000. However, if the economic crisis continues, few media publications can afford to survive. The inevitable result will be a lot of layoffs.

The writer is chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).

Window A: Indonesian journalists have never had an organization which fights for their rights and aspirations, protects their occupational health and promotes their welfare.

Window B: It is an open secret that journalists lack clarity about their working hours, earnings, welfare benefits and occupational protection.