Workers Union appeals for no strikes during APEC
Workers Union appeals for no strikes during APEC
JAKARTA (JP): The All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI) has
appealed to its members to refrain from staging industrial
strikes during the meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) later this month.
SPSI Secretary General Bomer Pasaribu said the instruction was
issued to prevent these strikes from being politicized by certain
parties who are hoping to take advantage of the gathering of APEC
leaders in the country.
"There is still the possibility of strikes or workers'
protests being organized, and we issued the instruction in
anticipation of such occurrences," Bomer said to the Antara news
agency yesterday.
He added, however, that until now he hasn't seen any
indication that certain parties were trying to organize workers'
strikes during the APEC meetings.
The APEC conferences kick off this week with the preparatory
meeting of the senior officials from the 18 member countries. On
Nov. 10 and 11, the APEC ministers will hold their annual
gathering in Jakarta. The peak will be on Nov. 15, when leaders
of the 18 APEC nations gather in Bogor for an informal meeting.
There are concerns that the gathering of 18 world leaders,
including U.S. President Bill Clinton, and the presence of over
2,000 foreign journalists in the country, might be used by
certain groups in Indonesia to further their political agenda.
Indonesia's labor records have been scrutinized by the U.S.
congress and Washington is now under congressional pressure to
link its aid to Indonesia with the conditions of Indonesian
workers.
Labor condition
Bomer acknowledged that the international media covering the
APEC conferences will most likely pay attention to the labor
condition in Indonesia.
"We're prepared to explain to them the development of workers
and unions in Indonesia," he said.
He pointed out however that labor disputes in Indonesia have
been fueled chiefly by the behavior of employers. "Nearly 90
percent of the disputes were started by employers. They're the
culprits, not the workers."
He cited as examples violations regarding the minimum wage
regulations and failures by employers to observe the basic rights
of workers. The workers in Indonesia also have a weak bargaining
position vis a vis the employers, he added.
The low rate of unionization of Indonesian workers is another
factor, he said, pointing out that only 11,500 companies out of
some 150,000 in Indonesia have established union shops. Out of
these, only 8,500 companies are providing their workers with
social security programs.
SPSI is a parent organization of the 13 trade unions in
Indonesia. (emb)