USTR's team arrives for labor review

USTR's team arrives for labor review

JAKARTA (JP): A visiting team of United States trade
officials, in town to study labor conditions here, has raised the
issue of the imprisonment of independent labor union activists
with Indonesian officials.

Led by Joseph Damond, who is the United States Trade
Representatives' (USTR's) Director for Southeast Asia, the team
met yesterday with the manpower ministry's Director General for
Labor Standards Suwarto.

The meeting discussed the possible suspension of trade
privileges granted by Washington to Indonesia. The U.S.
government has repeatedly threatened that the privileges could be
withdrawn if Indonesia' record on labor rights did not improve.

Damond refused to divulge to reporters details of the talks
with Suwarto regarding the detention of some high-profile labor
activists. "That's the business of the Indonesian government," he
said.

Damond said the meeting had discussed at length the
government's efforts to improve its labor record and Minister of
Manpower Abdul Latief's action plan for better industrial
relations.

The other members of the USTR team are Thomas Robertson and
Kevin Boyd.

Damond said the meeting had also discussed a petition of the
Washington-based Human Rights Watch/Asia, calling on the U.S.
Congress to push the Clinton administration to suspend the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) trade privileges in
respect of Indonesia.

He said the meeting was part of his government's efforts to
learn about the labor conditions in Indonesia before it makes any
decision concerning the trade privileges.

Damond declined to explain whether the team's meeting with
Suwarto had yielded any specific results.

"At this point, we are still in the process of collecting
information," he said.

The U.S. Congress will issue a decision on the possible
cancellation of the trade privileges later this year, probably in
October.

In 1993 Washington threatened to withdraw GSP privileges,
citing the Indonesian government's neglect of labor rights.

The United States postponed making a decision on the matter
after a previous USTR team reported that there had been some
improvements in the treatment of workers in Indonesia. (imn)