[PEN-L:11044] Oppose the Manpower Bill in Indonesia! (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> Call for International Solidarity:
> Oppose the Manpower Bill in Indonesia!
>
> On  June 16, 1997, the Indonesian Government will  introduce  the
> Manpower  Bill  to parliament and force its  passage  into   law,
> thereby consolidating its repression of the labour movement. This
> proposed  `Law on Manpower' will give the   Government  extensive
> control   over  every  aspect  of   industrial  relations,   with
> unlimited   power  to intervene in  labour disputes, and   direct
> control  over  trade unions in  the workplace. The new law   will
> severely  restrict  workers'  organising  activities  and  reduce
> their collective  bargaining power.
>
> The  Manpower Bill will repeal or amend six Ordinances and  eight
> Acts as  follows:
>
> 1. Ordinance  No.8  of  1887 on Recruitment  of  Indonesians  for
> Overseas  Employment
> 2. Ordinance No.647 of 1925 on Measures Limiting Child Labour and
>    Nightwork for Women
> 3. Ordinance No.87 of 1926 on Measures Child Labour and Youth  on
> Vessels
> 4. Ordinance of 1936 (State Gazette No.208) on Recruitment
> 5. Ordinance  of 1939 (State Gazette No.545) on  Repatriation  of
> Workers who  are employed or recruited outside of Indonesia
> 6. Ordinance  No.9  of 1949 on Amending  Regulation  on  Measures
> Limiting  Child Labour
> 7. Act  No.1 of 1951 on Labour Act No.12 of 1948 of The  Republic of
> Indonesia bringing     into operation throughout  Indonesia
> 8. Act No.3 of 1951 on Labour Inspection bringing into force  Act
> No.23 of  1948
> 9. Act No.21 of 1954 on Collective Labour Agreement between Trade
> Unions and  Employers
> 10.Act No.22 of 1957 on Settlement Labour Disputes
> 11.Act No.3 of 1958 on The Employment of Foreigners
> 12.Act  No.7 of 1963 on The Prevention of Strike and Lock Out  in
> vital  companies, public enterprises, and institutions
> 13.Act  No.12  of 1964 on Termination of  Employment  in  Private
> Undertakings
> 14.Act No.14 of 1969 on The Basic Provisions Respecting Manpower.
>
> The  ordinances  and  acts  above are in  fact  better  than  the
> Manpower   Bill and are still relevant to practice in  Indonesia.
> On   the  other   hand,  the Manpower Bill is  worse  and  cannot
> protect  workers in  an era of globalisation.
>
> In  this sense the Manpower Bill embodies all of the  anti-worker
> legislation which prompted mass protests and strikes recently  in
> South  Korea  and  Australia. As members of the APEC  free  trade
> regime,  the  Governments  of  these  countries  have  imposed  a
> neoliberal  agenda  which combines free  trade  and  freedom  for
> international capital with strong state intervention  to  repress
> workers'    movements   and   systematically  destroy    workers'
> collective  rights. While labour standards in industrialised  and
> newly   industrialising   countries  are  being  driven  down  by
> global  competition  to attract  transnational capital, countries
> such   as   Indonesia   are  driving  standards  even  lower   by
> institutionalising its repressive labour practices in a  new  law
> which  supposedly clarifies workers' "rights". The  proposed  law
> only  clarifies  workers' rights to  the extent that  it's  clear
> they don't have any.
>
>
> If  the  Manpower  Bill is passed by parliament  it  will  impose
> severe  restrictions  on  the right to organise  and  freedom  of
> association,  the right to bargain collectively and the right  to
> strike.  Without these fundamental rights the provisions  in  the
> Bill  concerning wages and working hours cannot be  monitored  or
> enforced.  The  extent  of this attack  on  workers'  fundamental
> rights  is demonstrated in the following aspects of the  Manpower
> Bill:
>
> (1)Restrictions  on freedom of association and  reinforcement  of
> the system requiring unions to be registered with and approved by
> the  Government (Article 34). This reinforces the Decree  of  the
> Minister of Manpower (No.PER01/MEN/1994 and No.PER  03/MEN  1993)
> on   the  establishment of trade  unions  in  workplaces, whereby
> all  trade  unions must register with the  Ministry  of  Manpower
> and  provide  a list of names of trade union  committee  members.
> The Decree bans union pluralism in the workplace  and states that
> trade  unions must seek affiliation to the  Government-controlled
> All Indonesia Workers' Union (SPSI).
>
> (2)Severe  restrictions  on the right to strike,  with  unlimited
> power    of  Government  intervention  to  end  disputes.   These
> restrictions    include  the  requirement   that   workers   seek
> permission   from   the  Government at least  72   hours   before
> strike  action,  and  that the names of strike  leaders  must  be
> submitted to the Government (Article 85).
>
> (3)Article  83  bans sympathy strikes and strikes which  are  not
> directly related to the company concerned.
>
> (4) Article  84  further undermines workers' right to  strike  by
> stating that: "Workers shall have no rights to wages during a
>     strike."
>
> (5)Strike  action  is restricted to the company grounds  and  any
> strike   action   taken  outside is  illegal.  This   effectively
> prevents   workers  from participating in  protest   marches   or
> public   demonstrations.  At the same time, Article   88   allows
> employers   to   expel workers from the  company  grounds:   "All
> employers have the right to start a lockout."
>
> (6)Collective bargaining rights are not guaranteed.
>
> (7)Collective  agreements only need to contain references to  the
> "rights and obligations" of employers and workers, and company
>    rules  and  regulations.  Agreements do not  need  to  contain
> specific   provisions  on  wages,  working  hours,   or   working
> conditions.    Also,    employers    can    replace    collective
> agreements    with "company regulations" when a union "no  longer
> exists"  in the  workplace.
>
> (8)Collective   agreements  must  be  negotiated  "without    any
> pressure",   which means workers cannot petition  the  management
> al action to enforce their demands.
>
> (9)There  is inadequate protection against unfair  dismissal.  In
> addition, Article 78 fails to guarantee the right to compensation
> for  dismissed workers by stating that dismissed  workers  should
> receive  severance pay or service money or compensation, when  in
> fact workers should be entitled to all of these.
> (10)There  is inadequate protection of the rights of  women  work
> ers, child and youth labour, Indonesian workers for overseas
>     employment, and foreigners. This problem also applies to  the
> provisions on health and safety.
>
> (11)Many of these "rights" open to arbitrary decisions by  Ministry
> of Manpower officials.
>
> (12)Several  articles  in  Bill contain  the  qualification  that
> regardless of the "rights" granted to workers, the Government
>     has (and also the employer in fact, because the  workers'problem
> is   lack  of  bargaining power) the  unlimited  (and  unchecked)
> power  to  interpret  and  determine the  application   of  these
> provisions,  example for Overtime (Article 96)  and   Rest  Times
> (Article  97)  Consolidating  State  Repression   Throughout  the
> Manpower  Bill  there  are references to  "Pancasila   Industrial
> Relations", which subordinates all labour issues to the decisions
> of  the  Government over national  interests,  unity  and  order.
> Article 24 of the Manpower Bill reinforces authoritarian  control
> over   workers  and  trade  unions   by   asserting   that    all
> activities  must  conform to  "Pancasila   Industrial  Relations"
> which   is  "designed to  promote  harmonious,   integrated   and
> compatible  industrial relations"  whereby  "all  workers   shall
> promote  a  sense of belonging to and  awareness of   maintaining
> and  preserving the business." This aspect  of the  Manpower Bill
> will  give the Government power to  enforce an   existing  Decree
> issued by the Minister of  Manpower  in 1994  which states  that:
> issued by the Minister of  Manpower  in 1994  which states  that:
> "The trade union at  the  enterprise level   is characterised  by
> the  principles  of  Pancasila"   and  its  role  is  "to  ensure
> continued   existence  of  the  enterprise"  and  "increase   the
> productivity of workers".
>
> The Manpower Bill further diminishes workers' rights by expressly
> defining workers as  a national resource and as goods to be  used
> for  national  development, where "manpower development  aims  to
> regulate,  supervise  and control the  activities  pertaining  to
> manpower." Whereas an employer is defined in the Manpower Bill as
> "a person", a worker is defined only as "manpower".
>
> Finally, the Manpower Bill excludes workers' organisations, trade
> unions  and  other labour organisations not registered  with  and
> approved  by the Ministry of Manpower from providing  support  to
> workers  in  strikes, labour disputes  or  collective  bargaining
> negotiations.  This  will leave workers relatively  powerless  in
> the   face  of  government  officials  and  progovernment   union
> officials   whose   interests  are  aligned  with   foreign   and
> domestic capital.
>
> Taking Action:
>
> In response to the threat this Bill poses to workers' fundamental
> rights and to the labour movement, a coalition of Indonesian NGOs
> and  genuine workers' organisations launched a campaign in  March
> of  this  year  to express their opposition to  the  Bill.  Their
> public   criticism  of  the  Bill and  demands  for   significant
> revisions   to  include fundamental workers' rights  has   gained
> widespread  support among workers and local communities.  In  the
> lead-up  to the June parliamentary hearing of the Manpower  Bill,
> close to  a million workers will petition the Government and  the
> House  of   Representatives   to significantly  revise  the  bill
> before  it becomes law.
>
> As part of this campaign, workers' organisations and labour  NGOs
>
> in  Indonesia  are calling for international support.  The  first
> step in the international campaign to stop the Manpower Bill will
> involve  collecting  the names of trade  unions,  labour  support
> groups,  human  rights organisations, NGOs, and  other  concerned
> organisations to petition the Indonesian Government and the House
> of  Representatives.  A statement signed  by  organisations  from
> around  the world will be submitted to the Indonesian  parliament
> along  with  the  petition  by Indonesian  workers  and  workers'
> organisations.   This petition will not only exert  international
> pressure   on  the  Indonesian Government, but  will  also  raise
> international awareness of the threat posed by the Manpower Bill.
>
> Through  this action we intend to demonstrate our solidarity  for
> the Indonesian workers' struggle. To join this solidarity  action
> please  send the name of your organisation and comments  to  APEC
> Labour Rights Monitor (ALARM) by email: alarm@xxxxxxxxxxxx or fax
> Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC) in Hong Kong: (852) 2385 5319
> or  to.   Indonesian  Legal  Aid  Foundation  (YLBHI)  by  email:
> ylbhi@xxxxxxxxxxx   or  fax  No.  (62-21)   330140.   Address   :
> Jl.Diponegoro 74 Jakarta 10320 INDONESIA
>