Women workers protest new manpower bill

JAKARTA (JP): Some 40 women workers and their families from the West Java town of Karawang yesterday pressured the government to drop its manpower bill, staging a protest at the House of Representatives.

Accompanied by a non-government organization called Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity), the workers gathered at the House and waved placards denouncing the bill. They charged that the bill, if passed, would fail to protect Indonesian women working abroad in menial jobs such as domestic servants.

The women sat on the floor, reading poems and chanting songs expressing their opposition to the bill. They also staged a play depicting servants airing their sufferings to the ghost of a friend.

"I have received insurance payment for my daughter, Neneng, who died three years ago in Saudi Arabia, but that's not what I wished for. I just want the police to discover what caused Neneng to die," said Asmani, one of the protesters.

Neneng was one of four victims, the workers said during the one-hour gathering. The women failed to meet the dominant group Golkar and the Armed Forces factions.

An activist of the Solidaritas Perempuan, Tati Krisnawaty, said the workers were originally scheduled to meet with the legislators today.

"We moved the plan one day forward because several friends from other cities had come to join us (in the protest)," Tati said.

According to Tati, some House members had agreed to meet this morning with the group who called themselves the Consortium for Defenders of Indonesian Migrant Workers.

Sabam Sirait of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction, who happened to pass by the protesters, was asked to address the protest.

The group accused the government of drawing up the manpower bill, currently under deliberation, to serve investors while reneging its responsibility to protect Indonesian workers overseas.

"The bill gives the government the legitimacy to sell cheap and capitulated workers," a statement from the group said.

President Soeharto told the Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi last month that the government intended to continue sending female workers abroad but wanted their skills to improve.

Mien said that there were 12,000 Indonesian registered workers in Malaysia, 26,000 in Hong Kong, 21,000 in Singapore and 10,000 in Brunei Darussalam. (amd)