Union wants better deal for contract workers

Union wants better deal for contract workers

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI)
called on the government on Thursday to tighten the regulations
on hiring contract workers, saying that many of them had been
treated unfairly by their employers.

Contract workers are always haunted by uncertainty about their
future, SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan said.

"Many have worked all their lives without guarantee concerning
their welfare," Muchtar said in an SBSI-sponsored discussion,
which looked at problems facing contract workers, held at Hotel
Wisata in Central Jakarta.

He said that any new system should include a provision stating
that workers must be paid severance pay at the end of their
contract, and limit the number of jobs in which employers could
use contract workers.

SBSI estimates that some five million out of Indonesia's 95
million strong workforce are working under contract, which means
that they do not get the perks and benefits that permanent
workers enjoy.

Most of these contract workers are unskilled workers doing
menial jobs. They are found in the banking, electronic, textile
and garment and the mining sectors.

More specifically, SBSI urged the government to repeal two
government decrees that companies have used as a basis in hiring
contract workers: Minister of Manpower Decree 2/1993 on periodic
working contracts and Minister of Manpower Decree 5/1995 on
periodic working contracts for the oil and gas sector.

Under these decrees, companies can employ contract workers for
a maximum of up to three years. Beyond this, they have to either
recruit them as permanent workers or dismiss them.

The decrees also specifically state that companies may only
employ contract workers for seasonal jobs and as trainees.

SBSI spokesman Andy William Sinaga said many companies opted
for the contract system to avoid various financial obligations
they would otherwise be required to pay their workers.

"Contract workers don't get severance pay, pension funds or
social security," Andy told The Jakarta Post.

He said they also faced an uncertain future and employers
often offered them two choices: reapply for the job, sign a new
contract, or terminate the contract permanently.

Most workers opt to reapply for work at the same company
rather than face the uncertain prospect of looking for a new job,
he said.

There are contract workers who have worked for up to 20 years
at the same company without receiving benefits that they would
have been entitled to under a permanent hiring system, he said.

Some companies dismiss workers when their contracts expire and
recruit a new batch of workers to replace them, Andy said.

This practice is rampant in the mining sector which is
dominated by foreign companies, he said.

The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration said it was
reviewing the rules on contract workers, but it cautioned SBSI
against pushing its demand for the abolition of the system.

The problem cannot be viewed from one side only, Director
General of Industrial Relations Marjono told the discussion.

The interests of employers must be taken into account too, he
said, adding that some jobs still required the use of contract
workers.

"We cannot simply revoke these decrees. What about companies,
like those in the construction sector, which rely on short-term
projects?" he said.

The government is currently working to improve the regulations
to improve the welfare of contract workers, he said.

Marjono said the issue of contract workers should be resolved
by the government and the representatives of employers and
workers. "We should sit down together and find a solution."

He urged workers to report to the government any companies
which abused the contract workers system. He promised that the
ministry would follow up on any information from workers. (07)