U.S. makes last minute check on Indonesian labor

JAKARTA (JP): The United States is currently making a last minute check on the condition of Indonesian workers, which is crucial in deciding whether or not to continue granting trade privileges to Jakarta.

A team from the U.S. Trade Department has been in Indonesia this week to meet with representatives of both the official and the unofficial trade unions as well as human rights organizations.

The findings of the five-person team, led by Robert Cassidy, will determine the fate of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme under which a wide range of Indonesian products qualify for duty free treatment. Some $640 million worth of Indonesian products, or 14 percent of its total exports to the U.S., benefit from the scheme annually.

Washington has put Indonesia's GSP status under review over the past year amidst allegations that Indonesia was denying workers' rights. It is expected to make its announcement this month.

On Monday and Tuesday, the team met separately with executives of the government-backed All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI), the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the rebel Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI).

SBSI has been contesting the government policy of allowing only the SPSI to represent workers in disputes with their employers.

SPSI Secretary General Bomer Pasaribu said the team was here to see improvements in labor conditions in the country.

"All questions posed by the GSP team have been handled satisfactorily," Bomer said as reported by the Antara news agency.

He said the GSP team was asking about workers' rights to organize, the legal protection for workers and the wage system.

Freedom of association is guaranteed by the constitution, he said. "The workers' right to organize has been well observed given that there are 13 sectorial unions which are united under the SPSI banner," he said. "Even the government has issued a ministerial decree allowing workers to set up labor organizations, outside of SPSI, at their workplaces."

The government also runs a social security program, the Jamsostek scheme, to improve workers' welfare and annually reviews the minimum wage levels, he said.

He pointed out that beginning next year, the minimum wage in every region of Indonesia will be at least equal to the estimated cost of minimum physical requirements.

Different picture

The GSP team unsurprisingly received a different picture from SBSI executives during a meeting at the U.S. embassy on Tuesday.

SBSI Deputy Chairman Rekson Silaban said after the meeting that the improvements made by the government over the past year has yet to touch the core of the problem.

Rekson said the workers' right to organize is still being violated and companies have been laying workers off virtually at will.

"Regardless of the GSP issue, we've not seen any improvement in labor conditions," he said.

Rekson was accompanied by SBSI's chief for research and development A. Simanungkalit and Sunarti, a member of the executive board, during the meeting at the embassy.

The three also made a case for U.S. intervention to secure the release of SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan, who has been detained and charged in connection with a workers' riot in Medan last April.

"Muchtar had nothing to do with the riots because he was in Semarang when they occurred," Simanungkalit said.

Meanwhile some 40 SBSI activists yesterday marched to the Attorney General's office demanding the release of Muchtar, who is being detained by the police in Medan, North Sumatra.

Their request for an audience with Attorney General Singgih however was turned down and the protesters dispersed peacefully after police requested them to leave the office's compound.

Police also confiscated posters and placards from the protesters which contained demands for improvements in workers' conditions. (rms/imn)