[asia-apec 379] Indonesian NGOs attack labour bill now before Parliament

[daga]

From: tapol (Tapol)
Subject: NGOs attack labour bill now before Parliament

Labor bill allows abuse of workers rights: Activists
Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights anc] labor activists
have joined  forces to pressure legislators into overhauling a new bill that
aims to give the government sweeping control of labor affairs. 
The commission and representatives of 11 non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) said yesterday there could be violations of workers' basic rights if
the bill became law.  After a 90 minute discussion, they agreed to lobby the
House of Representatives and the government.
 
Commission member Saparinah Sadli said the commission, acclaimed for its
relative independence, was particularly concerned about the articles which
allowed violations of human rights. 
"The commission and the NGOs need to meet regularly to discuss field
findings that they will use for 
their proposals for deliberating the bill," she said. 

The NGOs are Akatiga, CPSM, Jakarta Social Institute, the Indonesian Women's
Association for Justice Legal Aid, LBH (Legal Aid) Bandung, LBH Jakarta,
Elsam, Sisbikum, Infid, Women Solidarity and YLBHI. The NGOs said, in a
joint statement, that the bill gave the government sweeping authority to
control labor affairs, reducing workers' bargaining power. 

Comprising 1-8 chapters and 159 articles, the bill has been drafted as an
umbrella law for the 14 labor regulations made between 1887 during the Dutch
colonial administration and 1969. 
The bill covers labor policies, such as planning, information, placement and
manpower development, and relations between workers employers and
government. It affects all workers, including migrants and those working for
informal businesses or nonprofit organizations. 

The NGOs' spokesperson Teten Masduki of YLBHI, said the bill was dominated
by the government's aim to guarantee security for business. The bill aimed
to maintain the states' domination of national labor politics that required
cheap labor and made workers loyal to the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy's
strong role in labor affairs would make employers dependent on non-economic
institutions and security agencies while weakening workers' bargaining
power, the NGOs said. 

The labor activists said the bill curtailed workers' rights to associate,
negotiate with employers, go on strike, seek legal protection and get fair
wages. "Labor strikes are restricted with permits that are possible only
with government and employers' consent and strikers are denied wages," the
joint statement said. "Strikes are also only allowed within company
premises, therefore staging 
protests at the House of Representatives, manpower ministry, Commission of
Human Rights will be considered illegal. " 

The bill maintains the controversial "corporative" labor dispute settlement
system, which gives the government decisive power. 

The NGOs said the bill treated workers like capital, goods and production
tools in a capitalistic economic system. This, they said, could encourage
employers to treat workers' basic rights as "less important" than production
and development processes. 

Violations of human rights could occur because the bill gave the government
practically unlimited power to intervene in industrial problems. "The
government's function is not limited to labor inspections and law
enforcement but also to controlling labor organizations, wages, social
security and labor market and settling labor disputes," they said. 

The NGOs also said the bill discriminated against women workers because they
were not allowed to work at mining sites for example. It did not address
female workers' basic rights such as reproductive rights which would give
employers a loophole to discriminate against them, they said.