Jakarta – Workers unions say that 10 years after Indonesia ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on freedom of association, workers continue to face discrimination.
Chairman of the Indonesian Labor Unions Campaign Committee, Andy William Sinaga, said here Tuesday about 80 percent of workers unions were still discriminated against.
"Many employers refuse to approve the establishment of unions in their companies. Some approve but they sometimes set up their own unions to counter it," Andy told a discussion held by the ILO in Jakarta.
The event was organized in conjunction with the release of the ILO's report on progress in implementing and realizing freedom of association and collective bargaining in Indonesia, 10 years after its ratification of the ILO convention on freedom of association.
The discussion was attended by union members, representatives of the Indonesian Employers Association and an official from the ministry of manpower and transmigration.
Andy and other representatives of workers unions criticized what they said was the poor enforcement of labor laws.
"We see that the implementation of labor laws, like Labor Union Act 21/2000, Manpower Act 13/2003 and Industrial Relations Disputes Settlement Act 2/2004, is still very poor. Police seem to ignore workers who report their companies," Andy said.
A member of the Indonesian Workers Union, Syukur Sapto, agreed. "Workers who are not satisfied with their companies' policies sometimes report them to the police. But, in some cases, the workers turned out to be the suspects after the companies reported them back to police for defamation. This is not fair," Syukur said.
"We hope the government can improve the law enforcement, educate the police and the people regarding labor laws," he said.
The ILO said Indonesia had made positive progress toward promoting freedom of association and collective bargaining during the last 10 years. It reported that industrial disputes and strikes continued in an environment which generally supported freedom of association.
However, it also noted reports of violations of freedom of association at workplaces, such as employers terminating union officials, arrests of union members at protests and the refusal of companies to honor terms in a collective agreement.
The ILO director for Indonesia, Alan Boulton, said further progress still needed to be made.
"Efforts should be made by the tripartite group – the government, employers and unions – to identify some of the core issues and what can be done with these issues. The government has the responsibility to ensure inspection services, mediation services and law enforcement mechanisms," Boulton said.
Head of the legal and foreign affairs bureau at the ministry of manpower, Mustafa Kemal, said labor laws were sometimes poorly enforced due to a lack of capable inspectors in regional labor agencies. (trw)