Jakarta – Congress Alliance of Indonesian Labor Unions (KASBI) chairwoman Nining Elitos called an unscheduled protest, which was held at the union's secretariat, an "act of terror" against them. The unions firmly reject the controversial omnibus bill on job creation.
An unknown group of people staged the protest without any prior notice at the KASBI secretariat in Pulo Gadung district, East Jakarta, on Monday.
The protesters, who arrived by public minivan at about 9 a.m., briefly spoke about the omnibus bill before they started burning tires and demanding KASBI be dissolved, according to Nining.
"This is an act of terror against our unions. We believe that this [protest] occurred because of our stance on the omnibus bill," she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
She alleged that the unknown protesters are supporters of the omnibus bill and were there to intimidate the unions.
"If they were talking about the omnibus bill, it indicates that they could be supporters of the bill. However, we're not completely sure either," she said.
She added that there were no police officers at the scene during the protest and the Pulo Gadung district police did not receive any information regarding the demonstration.
"We've called the Pulo Gadung district police and they said the police did not receive any plans for a protest at our secretariat," she said, adding that the police should investigate the incident and uncover the perpetrators.
Neither the chief of the spokesperson for the East Jakarta Police responded immediately to a request for comment when contacted by the Post.
The government considers the bill on job creation to be essential as it has been struggling to attract foreign investment to help improve economic growth. If passed, the omnibus bill would amend about 1,200 articles in more than 80 prevailing laws, including the Labor Law, which have been blamed for hampering investment in the country.
Labor unions, however, rejected the bill after rumors surfaced that it would reduce severance payments, enforce an hourly pay system to replace the minimum wage and eliminate sanctions against companies that fail to provide health insurance.
The government has set up a team comprising government officials, businesspeople and labor representatives and tasked it with coordinating deliberations and public consultations over the omnibus bill following the rejection by the unions.
According to Coordinating Economic Ministerial Regulation No. 121/2020, the ministry set up on Feb. 7 a team of 14 labor representatives, 12 business representatives and 19 government officials.
Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions president Said Iqbal, however, told the Post that the newly formed team did not involve the labor groups much and instead had a tendency to divide them. (mpr)