Irna Gustia/FW & LM, Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), claims the recent government-sanctioned sacking of around 1,000 workers from Sony Indonesia represents a political scandal.
Speaking with Detik today, Surya Tjandra from the Legal Aid Institute said the government's actions in the case constituted a political scandal and set a bad precedent with implications for all Indonesian workers. "This is a political scandal for the government brought about by Sony's threat to flee the country," said Surya.
Workers at Sony Indonesia, a subsidiary of Japan Sony Corp, went on strike on 26 April over changes to the production line. Sony had recently installed a conveyor belt which required them to stand instead of sit down while working. During the strike, Sony switched production to it's Malaysian operations.
The government handed the matter over to the Central Labour Dispute Settlement Panel (P4P) within the Ministry of Manpower. On 16 June 2000, the Panel announced it's investigation into the dispute essentially agreeing to the changes and recommending that Sony provide seating and an additional drinking water fountain. Sony agreed to the recommendations but the workers, 80% of whom are female, continued their strike.
Eventually, on Wednesday the Panel gave permission to Sony to fire the striking workers, which took effect at the end of June. The Panel also ordered Sony to pay termination pay until June 2000, medical compensation, leave wages and other compensation.
According to Surya, the strike was justified by current labour regulations adding that, "Sony should have compromised with their workers before they fired them, but Sony just didn't bother."
Furthermore, Surya asserted that 1007 workers were fired and not 928, as claimed by the company and government. Besides the immediate fate of the retrenched workers, he regretted the incident because the government had not sided with the Indonesian people.
"On the contrary, the action will strengthen the position of foreign companies so that they can treat our inexpensive labour in any way they like," said Surya. The fact that the sacking was sanctioned by the government has only legitimised the threats of foreign enterprises to take their business elsewhere if workers strike.
The workers have now sought assistance from the House of Representatives. However, Tjandra said both the House and government are turning a blind eye to labour problems in Indonesia.