Union questions definition of unemployment

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation criticized yesterday the government's definition of unemployment, which he said camouflages the problem.

Bomer Pasaribu said the Central Bureau of Statistics, which compiles the national unemployment figure, defines a person as being unemployed if he works less than an hour a week, Antara reported.

This means that a person who works just 60 minutes a week, earning probably just enough to buy a packet of cigarettes, would be considered as employed, Bomer said.

"No wonder that unemployment in this country has officially been put at between 2 and 2.5 percent of the workforce," he said.

This, he said, makes the employment situation in Indonesia better than in western Europe, where the unemployment rates range between 7 percent and 10 percent.

In advanced countries, a person is defined as unemployed if he works less than two days in a five-day working week. This makes the figures in western Europe closer to reality, he added.

He admitted that the conditions in western Europe and Indonesia differ, and therefore the method of statistical calculation would have to be different.

But to consider one hour a week as employment is not acceptable and is misleading, he said, adding that in his opinion the definition should be extended to those working less than 15 hours a week.

Analysts have warned that the large portion of agricultural workers, who find seasonal work, must be taken into account when compiling employment figures in Indonesia.

Bomer did not refer to the unemployment statistics released by the Ministry of Manpower, which are based more on the number of registered job seekers.

The ministry's figures, which have been cited more often by the government, state that in 1995, 6.3 million or 7.24 percent of Indonesia's workforce were out of a job. This represents an increase from 2.3 million, or 3.17 percent, in 1990.

Bomer said defining someone who works for one hour a week as employed only blurs the unemployment problem and solution.

No one can subsist on working an hour a week. The person's productivity is low and this particular worker is still a burden to the nation, Bomer said.

If Indonesia maintains that its unemployment rate is 2.5 percent, then it should be helping the advanced countries which officially have higher unemployment figures, he said.

International agencies assessing the situation in Indonesia will make the wrong conclusion if they look at the unemployment figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, he said. (emb)