Workers union to revert to a federation

JAKARTA (JP): The All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI) is set to revert back to the format of a federation of several trade unions when its leaders meet in Cisarua, West Java, starting today.

General William Bokha, deputy secretary general, said yesterday the two-day leadership meeting, which will be opened by Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, will formalize the union's new statutes as a federation, with SPSI acting as the parent organization for all trade unions in Indonesia.

Over the past year SPSI has restructured itself and its various departments into 13 unions. The Cisarua meeting will formally adopt the new statutes.

SPSI is the only union recognized by the government to represent workers in negotiations with management.

The government's single union policy has been criticized at home and abroad as violating the workers' right to freedom of association. Criticisms grew even louder in the face of SPSI's ineffectiveness in fighting for workers' interests.

Government officials and SPSI executives said the move to go back to a federation has been in the pipeline for some years and had nothing to do with the pressures mounting against the government and the union.

Bokha said of the restructuring that SPSI would concentrate more on conceptual and political matters while the task of representing workers would be handled by union sectors.

"So, SPSI will no longer handle labor problems such as labor disputes, industrial strikes and collective labor agreements."

He said the 13 industrial unions which are affiliated to SPSI are autonomous and independent in carrying out their tasks of representing their members. "They are fully autonomous because they have their own statutes and rules."

The 13 industrial unions registered with the government as affiliated to SPSI are unions representing workers in the construction and public works sector; wood and forestry; trade; banking and insurance; publications and printing; food, beverages and cigarette industries; chemical, energy and mining; metal, electronic and machinery; textile, garment and leather industries; seamen; pharmaceutical and health; agricultural and plantation; tourism and transportation.

Bokha, who chairs the electronic and machinery trade union, said the number of industrial unions could be doubled in accordance with the number of sectors.

He said the trade unions would also be ready to accommodate all professional associations in their respective sectors.

Citing examples, he said the Association of Indonesian Nurses could join in the pharmaceutical and health sector and the Association of Indonesian Architects union could join the construction and public works sector.

"Many professional associations have asked to join SPSI to fight for their interests," he said.

Critics

In a separate occasion, SPSI's Secretary General Bomer Pasaribu said the restructuring of SPSI is intended to placate critics who say that there is no freedom of association for workers in Indonesia. "Nobody is 100 percent free in the world ... freedom has its limits."

He stressed, however, that unity between the various trade unions is crucial in giving workers some political clout, and this is a common practice in more advanced and democratic countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. "The more labor organizations we have, the weaker the workers' bargaining power will be," he said.

SPSI was formed in 1985 from a group of unions affiliated to the Federation of Indonesian Workers Union. The federation itself was founded when 21 trade unions signed a declaration on Feb. 20, 1993.

Bomer acknowledged that there are still many shortcomings in SPSI, but said the present leadership has done many things to improve the welfare of workers.

"People only complain but they do nothing and do not precisely know the labor conditions," he said. "SPSI has worked hard on government decrees for regional minimum wages, annual bonuses and establishment of units of SPSI in companies."

Up to September, there were nearly 11,000 SPSI units in more than 140,000 companies. Around 8,000 companies have made collective labor agreements with their workers. (rms)