Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – The government has set up a team comprising government officials, businesspeople and labor representatives tasked with coordinating deliberations and public consultations over an omnibus bill on job creation.
According to Coordinating Economic Ministerial Regulation No. 121/2020, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, the ministry set up on Feb. 7 a team of 14 labor representatives, 12 business representatives and 19 government officials.
"The team is tasked to discuss labor issues on the omnibus bill on job creation," the regulation reads. "[It will also] consult with the public regarding labor issues."
Secretary to the coordinating economic minister Susiwijono Moegiarso said that businesspeople and labor representatives had agreed to join the team.
"We are planning to have a meeting on Thursday to talk about the schedule and work plan," he told the Post without providing further details.
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairwoman for international relations Shinta Widjaja Kamdani said the team's discussions on the bill would be held simultaneously with its deliberations at the House of Representatives.
If passed into law, the omnibus bill on job creation is expected to amend more than 1,000 provisions in some 80 prevailing laws, including the Labor Law, which is deemed to have stifled investment. However, labor unions have expressed their opposition to the bill, saying it would undermine labor rights.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto was scheduled to submit a presidential letter (Surpres) notifying the House about the deliberations over the bill, as well as the bill itself, on Tuesday, according to several lawmakers.
The minister, however, failed to show up, prolonging the government's failure to meet its own deadline for submitting the bill. He was then scheduled to submit the bill on Wednesday.
Contacted separately, Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) president Said Iqbal said the newly formed team did not involve the labor groups much; it instead had a tendency to divide them.
"We rejected an invitation to join the team unless the team involved more labor groups and was tasked with discussing each of the articles in the omnibus bill before they are submitted to the House," Said told the Post. "We do not want to only be a legitimation tool."