Union leaders call for House to revise bill on labor dispute
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A number of labor unions demanded on Monday a delay of the House of Representatives' approval of the bill on industrial dispute settlement, pending sufficient public scrutiny of it.
"The House must stop the bill's deliberation, because the Constitutional Court is now reviewing the Law No. 13/2003 on manpower," Sahat Butar Butar of the Chemical, Energy, Mine, Oil, Gas, and General Workers Union (FSP KEP) told a hearing with House's Commission VII for population and welfare here.
The deliberation of the bill can only resume after the Constitutional Court delivers its verdict on the manpower law, which remains a subject of controversy between labor unions and the association of employers.
The House invited representatives of dozens of labor unions and individuals for the hearing on Monday to discuss the contents of the bill.
Sahat claimed to have secured support from 39 labor unions which opposed the bill.
Saepul Tavip, the secretary-general of the Association of Indonesian Labors (ASPEK), demanded the lawmakers explain to the labor leaders the chronology and the background of the bill's deliberation.
The government and the House are currently deliberating the bill on labor dispute settlements that will replace the Laws No. 12/1964 and No. 22/1957 on the settlement of industrial disputes that recommended industrial settlement through an ad-hoc labor court.
Chairman of House's committee deliberating the bill, Suryachandra Surapaty, said the House had accommodated workers' aspirations.
He said he the House would endorse the bill as soon as possible as mandated by the Law No. 13/2003 on manpower. The next in line will be the bill on migrant protection, which is sponsored by the House.
Under the industrial dispute settlement bill, any quarrel over dismissal could be settled first through a bipartite forum. However, if no resolution is reached, a mediator or councillor could be brought in within 40 days.
If the attempt fails, the dispute could be brought to the labor court and a verdict has to be delivered within 50 working days.
"We are here to share opinions and input on the bill. We hope the bill can be endorsed soon," he told labor union leaders.
Hasanuddin Rahman, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Employers (Apindo), also criticized the House for giving only a limited time to understand the bill.
Separately, Sebastian Salang of the Independent Labor Union, who was involved in preparing the bill, said the lawmakers had modified the original draft by providing the government with more authority in handling labor disputes.
"The lawmakers have changed our proposal. Contents-wise, the draft is different from what we prepared," Sebastian told The Jakarta Post after the hearing.
Currently, there are more than 70 labor unions with different interests and political affiliations. Only 18 of them were involved in formulating the bill, but none of the 39 labor unions opposed the bill.