Violence not answer to labor rifts

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday highlighted the need for workers and managements to negotiate disputes and avoid resorting to violence.

Commenting on the racially-tinged labor unrest in Medan, North Sumatra, last week, the President urged all companies to respect workers' rights by paying them the minimum wage and allowing them to set up shop level unions.

He also called for a thorough investigation into the Medan labor riots, which left one businessman dead and two others injured. Two security officers were also hurt.

Manpower Minister Abdul Latief reported on the labor situation in Medan to President Soeharto at the Merdeka Palace yesterday.

The minister reiterated his belief that the protests, which led to the riot, did not truly reflect the aspirations of workers' or their struggle for rights.

"Still, the President emphasized that all workers' rights have to be respected in full, and that companies must abide by this policy."

The riots had their origins in labor disputes going back as far as February at many manufacturing companies in Medan.

The conflicts grew in the two months since as employers continued to turn deaf ears on the demands for higher wages and then they turned riotous on April 14 when more than 20,000 workers took to the streets.

Soeharto said entrepreneurs have a duty to ensure harmonious relations with their workers, according to Latief yesterday.

This includes allowing workers to appoint their own representatives of the All Indonesian Workers' Union (SPSI), he added.

The presence of a union would pave the way for workers and management to negotiate rather than become adversaries, the President said.

In Medan, the North Sumatra security agency Bakorstanasda yesterday negotiated with the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH) for the hand over of Amosi Telaumbanua, whom the authorities say instigated last week's riots.

Amosi, who has been on the run since the first signs of violence on April 14, said in an interview with Tempo weekly magazine that he was prepared to turn himself in if provided guarantees of his safety.

Amosi said he had been maltreated in previous arrests which were also related to labor disputes.

"We haven't reached an agreement yet," said Alamsyah Hamdani, chairman of the LBH office in Medan yesterday after negotiations with Bakorstanasda.

Deadline

The security agency has reportedly given LBH an April 30 deadline to hand over Amosi, who chairs the local chapter of the Indonesian Prosperous Trade Union (SBSI), a rival organization to the government-backed SPSI.

The director of the International Labor Office (ILO) in Jakarta, Herman Van der Laan, yesterday said the events in Medan demonstrate the failure of the basic industrial relations system.

"Industrial relations mechanisms in Indonesia have not kept pace with the rapid rate of industrialization," he said.

According to Herman, a sufficient mechanism to deal with the plight of labor in the workplace does not exist, thus creating tension and the physical display recently witnessed in North Sumatra.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) in Jakarta gave its wholehearted support to the workers' demands in Medan.

"It is ironic that workers are being paid less amidst the success of national development," YLBHI said in a statement signed by spokesman Hendardi.

Director of the Institute for the Defense of Human Rights H.J.C. Princen criticized the government for refusing to recognize the SBSI.

"We wish to remind the government that freedom of association is guaranteed by the constitution," he said. (rms/rmn/mds)