Workers asked to beware of infiltration

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto told workers yesterday to be alert for the infiltration of interest groups intent on instigating strikes.

"The President has called on workers nationwide to consolidate their organizations so that they won't be easily fooled by third parties," Soeharto was quoted by Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief as saying.

Latief said the third parties referred to by the President were the Democratic People's Party (PRD) and its wings, such as the Center for Workers Struggles and the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy.

The organizations' activists, Latief said, often claimed to represent workers' interests, while using the workers to further their own political agenda.

The government has singled out the PRD, which the government says is "synonymous" with the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party, as the prime mover behind the July 27 riots in Jakarta, which left at least three people dead.

The riot was triggered by the storming of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters controlled by Megawati Soekarnoputri who had just been ousted by a government-backed breakaway party leader, Soerjadi.

The most recent labor protest masterminded by the PRD was in Surabaya on July 8 and July 9 which reportedly involved over 10,000 workers.

Latief said the PRD activists were behind numerous labor strikes in other industrial cities, including the strike at the Great River Industries textile factory in Jakarta.

The authorities in Surabaya have detained three PRD activists who will be tried on charges of inciting labor unrest.

"We are glad that the Indonesian workers have realized the instigators' motives and are not being easily fooled," he said.

Latief also accused Singapore-based television station Asia Business News (ABN) of painting a bleak picture of the Indonesian labor situation.

"You can see that every three hours ABN airs news that seems as if the country (Indonesia) is in chaos. That is the way they publicize Indonesia," he said.

He said the local media have been influenced by the way the foreign media report Indonesia, that is by focusing on the dark side of all affairs.

"You make big reports on labor unrest but make no reports when peace abounds. As a journalists' friend, I have a right to reprimand the press," he said.

According to Latief, foreign organizations have stopped criticizing Indonesian labor policies because they do not have a complete understanding of local labor issues.

The government has taken the initiative and invited foreign officials to observe labor affairs in Indonesia. The result is amazing, he claimed, some have even asked Jakarta to provide advise on how to deal with labor problems in their own countries.

Latief said that the productivity of Indonesian workers would be higher if "the third parties" stopped meddling in the country's internal affairs.

He cited the recent visit by the American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson as an example of such meddling.

According to Latief, some foreign countries meddle because they feel their productivity is threatened by Indonesian workers. (pan)