Union says labor relations remain tense in Indonesia

Union says labor relations remain tense in Indonesia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the lifting of the worst restrictions on labor union
rights in 2000, many others still remain and labor relations have
become increasingly tense, with many incidents of violent
physical attacks on strikers, according to the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

ICFTU in its 2002 report Indonesia: Annual survey of
violations of trade union rights released on June 19, 2002
through the Global Unions' website global-unions.org said that in
one incident there was an attack on sleeping strikers, in which
two people were killed.

It was referring to the death of two workers of footwear
factory PT Kadera in East Jakarta who were killed when
paramilitary groups launched an attack on the demonstrators who
were protesting the company's closure in March 2001.

ICFTU represents 157 million workers in 225 affiliated
organizations in 148 countries and territories. The All-
Indonesian Workers Union Federation (FSPSI) and the Indonesian
Prosperous Trade Union (SBSI) are ICFTU's affiliated members in
Indonesia.

Since former president Soeharto's regime ended in May 1998,
Indonesia has thrown out its draconian labor laws which prevented
workers from forming trade unions and allowed the use of military
force to settle industrial disputes.

Workers are by law free to unionize and draw up their own
rules.

Under the labor union law endorsed in 2000, unions must be
registered with the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and they
are required to have a least 10 members, a reasonable limitation
by international standards. In addition, there can be more than
one union at a workplace and those who prevent a worker from
joining a union are liable to a fine or imprisonment.

The law gives civil servants the right to organize, which they
did not have beforehand.

The report also noted a number of other restrictions in the
legislation allowing the court to dissolve a trade union if its
basis conflicts with the 1945 Constitution, or the Pancasila, the
national ideology which emphasizes consensus and national unity,
or if its members or leaders have committed a crime against
national security in its name and have been sentenced to at least
five years in prison for that reason.

"Once a union is dissolved, its leaders cannot form another
for six years," the report quoted the law.

The law also allows the government to interfere in the labor
unions' internal affairs since the unions are obliged to keep the
government informed of nominations to and changes in their
governing bodies, on pain of losing official recognition, and
therefore the right to represent their workers.

During the recent May Day, thousands of workers from numerous
labor unions went on strike to protest poor labor conditions in
the country and demanded the government set June 6 as May Day
instead of May 1, to commemorate the murder of labor activist
Marsinah who was killed after organizing a strike in her
workplace in the East Java town of Sidoarjo on May 6, 1995.

The report said the law does not guarantee workers the right
to strike because they are not allowed to stage a strike while
negotiating with their employers.

It said the regulation requires workers and their management
to sign collective labor agreements (KKB) within 30 days and they
must be submitted to the Ministry of Manpower for mediation,
conciliation or arbitration.

"The law does not address the settlement of jurisdictional
disputes between different trade unions at the same workplace,"
said the report.

Quoting SBSI Chairman Muchtar Pakpahan and other labor
activists, IFCTU said relations between the government, big
business and workers remains tense.

"When workers try to set up trade unions, companies often
either dismiss or demote union leaders and members, making
workers afraid of organizing or joining a union. Trade unionists
also cite a growing number of attacks on their organizers by
paramilitary groups supported by the military and police and paid
for by employers to intimidate workers or break strikes," said
the report.