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.