Women cry for no more discrimination at work

Women cry for no more discrimination at work

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Brahmani, a Garuda Indonesia female flight attendant, was furious when her labor union signed a Collective Labor Agreement (KKB) with the airline's management in 2001 as it imposed a mandatory retirement age of 46 for female flight attendants and 56 for their male counterparts.

"The policy has had a direct impact on both the morale and welfare of female flight attendants," Brahmani said.

Brahmani, a mother of two, was forced to retire in 2002, ten years earlier than she would have liked.

According to her, the policy viewed women based on their physical appearance rather than their intellectual capability and professionalism.

"The most important role of flight attendants is ensuring the safety of passengers, not showing off a youthful physical appearance," Brahmani said over the weekend.

Brahmani, who has been teaching at a theological school in South Jakarta since her forced retirement last year, said the early retirement policy had deprived women of income and other facilities such as free tickets and training which their male counterparts receive for 10 extra years.

The State Ministry for State Enterprises had promised to scrap the ruling but has yet to make good on its pledge.

Brahmani's experience is just one example of how rampant discrimination still is in the country.

A recent report on discrimination by the International Labor Organization (ILO) ranked sex discrimination at work at the top of its list.

ILO's Jakarta office said women in Indonesia still experienced discrimination at work ranging from less pay and decision-making responsibilities than men to greater difficulty in entering the workforce.

It said, for example, the average earnings for women was only 68 percent of their male counterparts.

ILO added that married women were often not given family allowances because they were considered "single" according to the Marriage Law, and married men are the legal head of the family.

Unlike their male counterparts, women working at Garuda Indonesia, according to Brahmani, were given the same status as a single person and thus their husband and children could not receive health benefits from the company.

"Women should get health benefits for their families whether or not their husband is working. The husband then could choose the allowance that is better for the family, whether it is from his office or from his wife's office," said Brahmani, whose husband is teaching at the same school where she is now working.

Ari Sunarijati of the All Indonesian Reformed Workers Union (SPSI Reformasi) and noted actress Nurul Arifin concurred with Brahmani, saying that female workers often faced discrimination at work in many forms.

They called on the government to take necessary measures to end discrimination against women.

"At least one thing that needs to be changed is salaries and allowances. Female salaries and allowances must be equal to their male colleagues," Ari said.

She argued that the remuneration differences should not be made based on sex but on performance and competence.

Indonesia, ironically, has ratified the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

It has also ratified the Equal Remuneration Convention that stipulates that salaries should be established without discrimination.

The country also has a new Labor Law, which states that every worker has the right to receive equal treatment without discrimination from his or her employer.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea admitted earlier that although Indonesia had a number of anti- discrimination laws, implementation was still poor.

To help eliminate gender discrimination at work, the government, according to Jacob, had raised the number of monitors from one person for every 1,000 companies to one for every 50.