Workers stage nationwide rally against protection bill

Workers stage nationwide rally against protection bill

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In what was believed to be one of the largest turnouts ever of
labor protesters, thousands of workers from across the country
took to the streets on Thursday to oppose the labor protection
and industrial settlement bill.

The workers criticized the bill, dubbed by many as a pro-labor
draft law, for not providing enough protection for them.

The bill is being deliberated at the House of Representatives,
and is likely to be passed into law later this month, after a
two-month delay due to strong opposition from both trade unions
and the business community.

The businesspeople slammed the bill for giving too much
protection to workers at the expense of employers and warned that
it would be yet another major deterrent for investors.

The workers demanded more protection of their rights to
strike, to appeal against dismissal and to pursue a career in the
company they work at.

Responding to the workers' demands, the government revised 35
chapters of the two bills, including a section on contract
workers and protection for female workers.

Thousands of workers in Jakarta staged peaceful demonstrations
taking the route from the traffic circle in front of Hotel
Indonesia to the Vice Presidential Palace in Jl. Merdeka Selatan
and completed the rally outside the national legislative
compound.

"We demand the legislators reject the bills because they fail
to meet our needs," one of the workers shouted.

They also demanded the government to annul Law No. 25/1997 on
manpower.

However, the demonstrators were not allowed to enter the
compound to meet the legislators, as the internal security
officers locked the gate.

Workers nationwide have, in the past few days, staged strikes
and rallies demanding the House to stop deliberating on the
bills.

Last month, police shot two of the demonstrators in Bandung
over the same issue, while many of their colleagues were
arrested.

Similar protests also took place in North Sumatra's capital of
Medan, Surabaya and other big cities.

Many non-governmental organizations concerned with workers'
rights also expressed opposition to the two bills, in particular,
a clause which states that the government was not responsible for
providing jobs to its citizens, leaving the task of creating jobs
to market mechanisms.

Disputes between workers and companies have become a hindrance
to economic growth and new investment, but there has not yet been
effective mediation to handle the problem.

The bill on dispute settlements allows workers to go on strike
as a "last resort" to fight for their interests and to protest
unfair policies made by the management, but the strikes must be
staged peacefully and in accordance with the law, while the
workers should be a card-carrying member of the appropriate
union.

But the clause has also been opposed by the workers, due in
large part to the fact that not all workers are members of labor
unions as many were established by management, and not regarded
as independent.

Meanwhile, around 300 workers from furniture producer PT Hamar
Wijaya Makassar in South Sulawesi, filed a complaint to the local
government for the management's arbitrary dismissal of 150 of
their colleagues.

The dismissed workers claimed that the management had
neglected their welfare after 11 years of work.

One of the protesters, Hasyim, accused the office of manpower
and transmigration of taking bribes from the company.

"I'm disappointed with the officials who failed to defend us,"
he told reporters as quoted by Antara.