Jakarta – A number of independent labor unions are planning a series of strikes to force the government to revoke an amendment of a ministerial decree on severance and service payments. Jacob Nua Wea, chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation (FSPSI), said FSPSI would mobilize labor activists and workers in Greater Jakarta to stage a strike at the manpower and transmigration ministry on May 16.
"On May 21, 2001, all trade unions under the federation will again organize a similar demonstration at the office of all governors across the country to make provincial administrations aware of their rejection," he said here on Friday.
Jacob said further that some 5.1 million members under the Federation would be asked to take "leave" on May 22 and May 23, as a warning to employers that workers were serious about the matter. "No regulation bars workers from taking leave en masse and neither the government nor employers can blame the workers," he said.
Jacob said FSPSI also planned a massive demonstration at the National Monument Square on June 11 if the government resisted. "We hope the decree will have been revoked before a national strike happens," he added.
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Al-Hilal Hamdi, amended Ministerial Decree 150/2000 on May 4 which was issued by his predecessor Bomer Pasaribu. The amendments scale back the amount of compensation, service and severance pay given to resigning, retiring or dismissed workers. Labor unions have charged that the minister buckled under the pressure of foreign investors and big business.
Jacob, also a legislator for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said on Friday that FSPSI rejected the amendments as it excluded the right of retiring workers to receive service payments. "Employers cannot regard the pension funds as service payment for retiring workers because the pension funds were collected from workers," he said.
Mochtar Pakpahan, chairman of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), said that after coordinating with FSPSI, SBSI had decided to stage a demonstration at the manpower and transmigration ministry on May 17 to protest the decree.
"We have 300,000 members in Jakarta and surrounding areas, and this number will be enough to fill the manpower and transmigration ministry compound on May 17," he warned. He said he had also asked SBSI's chapters in North Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Lampung, West and East Java to organize labor strikes until the decree is revoked.
Antoni Silo, program coordinator of the Social Information and Legal Guidance Foundation (Sisbikum), said in cooperation with the Confederation of Independent Labor Unions (GSBI) it would also organize a series of labor rallies in the next two weeks in Tangerang and Bekasi.
"We are very disappointed with the government which has bowed to pressure from foreign investors and issued the amendments without taking into account the negative impact beforehand," he said in a press release.
Antoni said the amendments contained in Decree 78/2001 were contradictory to the national development program aimed at improving the people's social welfare and creating social justice in the society. "In the case of labor dismissals, the new decree cannot function as a social safety net because the compensation outlined in the decree is not adequate to cover dismissed workers' daily needs," he said.