Soeharto asks Latief to socialize new labor law

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto ordered Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief yesterday to take steps to familiarize the public with the newly endorsed manpower bill before it goes into effect next year.

Soeharto also asked Latief to prepare a draft of related government regulations which would be needed to implement the bill.

"The President is happy that the bill was eventually adopted after a democratic and transparent process," Latief told reporters after meeting with Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

Latief said the government would issue eight government regulations, including two on the establishment of a national council and a national productivity council.

The other six regulations will cover workers' rights to set up trade unions and to go on strike, and will include a regulation on layoffs.

The House approved the bill on Thursday after weeks of intensive deliberations, under the pressure of limited time and constant criticism that the bill was actually meant to reduce workers' rights.

Critics condemned the government, for instance, because according to the original draft of the government-sponsored bill, workers should not be paid when they go on strike.

The government bowed to pressure and agreed to introduce changes in the bill. The document now says workers are allowed to strike if their basic rights are not met, without losing their wages, and as long as the strikes are not held on streets.

The document will abolish 11 ordinances and laws on labor affairs if it is enacted by the President. It is expected to go into effect on Oct. 1, 1998; there has been no explanation as to why the bill will go into effect on that date.

Previous experience has apparently prompted the government to give more time for people to become familiar with the law.

In 1992, the government was forced to postpone for a year the enforcement of the widely criticized traffic law after widespread public protest. Analysts had then blamed the government for not giving enough time for the public to become accustomed to the law.

Latief said yesterday that the government would also establish a national manpower planning policy to anticipate an oversupply of labor.

"We are facing an oversupply of labor ... and 74 percent of the labor force are primary school graduates," Latief added.

He disclosed the government plan to adopt a nontariff barrier to discourage the growing number of foreign workers here.

About 70,000 expatriates are currently working in Indonesia with a total income of between US$2.5 billion and $3 billion.

"When our goods enter the Australian market, they try to complicate entry procedures by imposing barriers," he said, citing as an example. He added that Indonesia would do the same, but in a fair way.

"We will do it openly to protect our workers," Latief said.

The government issued a decree early this year requiring expatriates working in Indonesia to pay US$100 a month during the period of their work contracts to finance vocational training programs for local workers. It also regulates the "Indonesianization", or phasing in, of Indonesian workers to positions at companies currently held by expatriates.

"The salaries of our workers are much lower than those of expatriates," Latief said.

Protest

Separately yesterday, a group of activists of three non- governmental organizations held a demonstration expressing their lack of confidence in the House of Representatives for endorsing the manpower bill.

Some 20 activists accused the House of neglecting public demand for a law that would protect workers' basic rights. They also accused the legislative body of cowardice in that it was unable to correct weaknesses of the bill.

The head of labor division at the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, Teten Masduki, who joined the demonstration, said that despite legislators' claims to the contrary, the endorsed bill was not much different from the original document.

"The only changes were on language and on some articles that were added. The additional articles are not essential by nature. For instance, there's an article on the establishment of workers' cooperatives," he said.

The protesters called themselves the Commission on Labor Law Reform, the Consortium of Defenders of Migrant Workers and the Women's Group for Labor Justice. (prb/05)