Rights commission observes progress in labor conditions
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights has noticed an improvement in the labor condition in the country, although some employers continued to repress the rights of their workers.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Roekmini Koesoemo Astoeti, a commission member, hailed the government for its efforts to promote the laborers' welfare by raising their minimum wage levels.
"I see that the (labor) condition is getting better," Roekmini, Secretary for the Sub Commission for the Education and Public Awareness on Human Rights, told The Jakarta Post yesterday after attending a meeting on the settlement of a labor dispute in her office.
The government increased the minimum wage levels in nine provinces by between 19 and 35 percent last month. The other 10 provinces raised theirs in January and April. The daily minimum wages range from Rp 2,500 (US$1.15) to Rp 6,750 (US$3.12).
Beginning next April, increases in regional minimum wage levels will be made simultaneously nationwide.
Roekmini noticed that many workers were still deprived of their rights as their employers failed to abide by government regulations on labor, including on minimum wage levels.
The employers were aware that the number of job seekers is much larger than the available jobs. Some exploiters would not hesitate to exploit this condition to their advantage, she said.
Roekmini also rebuked employers for discouraging workers from trying to form unions under the umbrella of the All Indonesia Workers' Union (SPSI). At the same time, she called on workers to obey the manpower ministerial decree on the procedures of the establishment of trade unions.
Discuss
According to the decree, workers must discuss the establishment of the union with their employers. Labor activists recently urged the government to withdraw the decree, saying that this could affect the union's independence.
Defending the decree, Roekmini said that it was necessary for workers to discuss the plan to form a labor union with their employers to maintain harmony in the workplace.
Roekmini however declined to comment on the controversial Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), which is not recognized by the government.
The government accused SBSI of provoking laborers to stage protests and violent demonstrations. It is planning to prosecute its leader Mochtar Pakpahan for his alleged involvement in the April riots in Medan, which resulted in the death of one businessman.
Last week several U.S. Congress members urged the U.S. Trade Representative to revoke the GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) trade privilege status given to Indonesia because the of the worsening labor situation there.
They cited as an example the arrest of Mochtar and several other labor activists, a move which they claim reflects the deprivation of labor rights by the authorities.
Roekmini and two other members of the National Commission on Human Rights, Djoko Soegianto and Bambang W. Soeharto, yesterday met with executives of PT Putra Surya Pahala (PSP), officials of the manpower agency and the Bogor chapter of SPSI executives to discuss a labor dispute within the company.
The commission members called for PT PSP and its lawyer, Frans Hendra Winarta, to review their decision to dismiss some 60 workers who recently staged a strike to protest their employer's involvement in the establishment of an SPSI unit in the company. (sim)