Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Academics and unionists have criticized the President's instruction to five universities to study the government's new labor legislation, calling the idea a waste of time.
"There is no time for more research. Too much has already been done and there are stacks of reports already. The government has them. Universities have them. (More research) is useless," said noted economist Faisal Basri from the University of Indonesia.
"It is time (for the government, workers and employers) to sit down together and discuss each other's aspirations," Faisal told a peaceful rally Tuesday against proposed revisions to the labor law. The demonstration was by the Association of Indonesian Trade Unions (Aspek) at Jakarta's Proclamation Monument. After a series of major union protests against the draft law, on April 8 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered five state-run universities to study the legislation.
Economist and Aspek secretary-general Yanuar Rizky said such studies would not benefit workers. The President had only asked universities to formulate an ideal labor law instead of creating one that fit into the grand design of Indonesia's economy, Yanuar said.
An less-than-comprehensive study of the law would only create more problems, he said. "Academics would become trapped in the rigid economic theories of foreign countries, which are not appropriate to our context. I suspect these five universities would only conduct library research," Yanuar said. Most academics had "no clue" what the daily realities were for workers, he said. "They never meet with trade unions."
University of Indonesia rector Usman Chatib Warsa recently told Tempointeraktif he had prepared a special team to carry out the presidential instruction, although he had not yet received a formal request from Yudhoyono.
Faisal urged workers to address social security issues properly through tripartite meetings with employers and the government. He also called for the government to reevaluate the role of foreign investment in the domestic economy because it had often contributed to problems for workers.
Joining the rally were representatives of foreign labor unions, including Eddie Parker of Britain's general labor union, the GMB, Michael Crosby of the Service Employees International Union and Rudy Porter of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity.
On May 1, Aspek members will join thousands of other workers from trade unions to march down main streets across Jakarta to mark International Labor Day.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he was not worried about the plan for the massive rallies in the city. "Don't sweat on it. It happens every year," he said Tuesday.
However, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto urged protesters to cancel the plan because he said large masses of people could create anarchy on the capital's streets. "Please just conduct rallies in your respective areas. Massive gatherings in one place could cause unwanted incidents," he said.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said around 10,000 officers would be stationed at main thoroughfares in the city during the protest.
"We will brief labor leaders on April 27. We've also prepared riot squads to anticipate (violence) and have been promised reinforcements from police in the surrounding regions and the Indonesian Military (TNI)," he said.