Jakarta – Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea here on Monday criticized an International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention which permits as few as 10 employees to establish their own workers' union.

During a meeting with the Indonesian Employers Association, Jacob said the Convention, which Indonesia has ratified, seems to be ill-suited to conditions here. "You can't equate conditions here to those in Belgium which has the size of about a single district in Indonesia," he said.

"As a result of that Convention there are now some 52 workers' unions ... Most of them are nothing more than a union of provocateurs with practically no members," he charged. He further claimed that many non-governmental organizations allegedly fighting for workers' rights have actually little understanding of labor issues.