Workers seek humane approach to solving labor conflicts

JAKARTA (JP): Workers are seeking a humane approach where a better relationship between them and employers could effectively solve problems related to their welfare and productivity.

"Treat us humanely and not just as coolies who make your companies run. We need to have a conducive relationship with the companies' management. The problem of wages comes second," Dolfus from the Labor Solidarity for Struggle said on Saturday.

He said that problems related to the lack of a humane approach could lead to strikes, which would worsen the company-worker relationship. He also blamed the government and the legislators who lacked control over the employers.

His colleague, chairperson of the labor union in a textile company in Tangerang, West Java, Siti Nurrfiqoh, said that the Ministry of Manpower failed to monitor whether a company's policies were in compliance with existing labor laws.

"Does the government know that some of us are paid far below the monthly minimum wage or are not allowed to take menstruation leave? Even if they know, the officials have done nothing to remedy the situation," she charged.

The current labor law allows female workers to take three days leave during menstruation.

The two expressed their thoughts on Saturday, during a discussion on the issue of criminalizing labor, held by the manpower ministry, the House of Representatives, the police and the Indonesian Companies Association (Apindo).

The event was held three days before the International Labor Day.

In most cases, workers stage demonstrations or hold strikes to demand a wage increase or to obtain the facilities they deserve as regulated by the government in the manpower social insurance (Jamsostek).

The official minimum monthly wage for Jakarta and its surrounding metropolitan areas is Rp 426,250 (US$35.5). Yet, many laborers claimed that they received far below the minimum wage and that they often suffered arbitrary treatment from the companies. They also complain companies often repress the workers, especially when there is no union to represent them.

Dolfus and Siti shared the opinion that the lack of government control over the company-worker relations often resulted in the criminalizing of the laborers as a shock therapy to silence the other workers.

"Instead of negotiating, they charge us with violating the law," Dolfus said.

"They use either hoodlums or the police to stop us. The law is on the companies' side."

Siti added that the police would come fully armed to disperse the workers and not allow them to negotiate with the management, threatening that the workers could be charged with antisubversion.

The latest case was the attack on PT Kadera AR Indonesia workers in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, by an armed mob earlier this month. The incident claimed the lives of two workers.

According to the 2000 Union Workers Law, the management's failure to pay workers' salaries on time, the use of intimidation, and campaigning against a labor union could be categorized as violation of the law and perpetrators could be charged. But as yet no employer has been charged with violating the law.

Both the head of Aspindo's legal division Hasanuddin Rachman and the National Police's assistant to the public guidance Lt. Gen. Deddi G. said that the main concern of the government was to save the industrial sector.

"We need to uphold the law against any measures that can endanger the productivity of our 10,000 members," Hasanuddin said. (bby)