Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said on Sunday that a tripartite forum consisting of labor union groups, the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has finished discussing labor issues in the omnibus bill on job creation and planned to soon deliver their suggestions to the House of Representatives.
"All suggestions from the forum will be made into a completed draft of the bill and it would soon be proposed to the House of Representatives," Ida said in a statement, adding that prior to being delivered to the House, the draft would first be sent to Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto.
Ida appreciated the efforts made by the forum, which offered a "dynamic" discussion.
"Having different opinions is a common thing in discussion. It shows how everyone in the forum was given the same opportunity to express their different perspectives," she said.
The tripartite forum conducted at least nine meetings to discuss the bill from July 8 to July 23. As reported by tempo.co, the forum discussed 10 issues in the omnibus bill, namely foreign workers, temporary workers, outsourcing, work hours, rest breaks, employment terminations, severance pay, sanctions, unemployment benefits and job benefits.
However, Ida said that several items discussed had not yet received a unanimous agreement from the forum. "Regardless of whether or not a full agreement is reached, the forum had committed to finishing the discussion".
The bill seeks to revise 79 laws and more than 1,200 articles, from labor and mining regulations to business license and environmental laws. The bill aims to cut red tape and attract investment in the country, boosting the economic situation during the pandemic crisis.
Previously, the ministry invited a total of 14 labor unions to the forum. However, seven of the unions decided to step out of the forum after expressing their objections over how it acted as a mere hearing session for the government with no guarantee that the feedback would be incorporated in the deliberation process.
The government expects deliberation of the bill to be finished in August despite mounting pressure from labor unions and the World Bank over fears that it would negatively affect workers' welfare.