Jakarta – A number of trade unions in Central Java have rejected the bill on manpower supervision and protection, and the bill on the settlement of industrial disputes.

"We reject the two bills as replacements for the 1997 [manpower] law, the enforcement of which has been postponed because of strong opposition from various trade unions and non-governmental organizations," Rio Irawan, coordinator of the Forum of Communication Among Trade Unions in Central Java, told Antara after meeting with Central Java Deputy Governor Mulyadi Widodo in Semarang on Wednesday.

Rio said trade unions and NGOs in Central Java have asked the government to revise the two bills, which they claim encroach on he dignity of workers and were apparently written in haste.

"What is more, the versions [of the bills] used by legislators for socialization purposes among trade unions are different from the ones being circulated among other groups, regarding the number of articles, the substance and the construction," he said.

Rio claimed that many articles in the two bills – among them articles on the right to strike, the termination of employment, severance pay, wages and contract employment – would put workers at a disadvantage. "Trade unions believe that the protection bill gives too much authority to the minister of manpower and transmigration," he said.

He also accused members of the House of Representatives of being less than transparent in deliberating the two bills, involving trade unions only at the last minute.

Rio threatened to organize mass protests if the House proceeds ith plans to pass the bills into law next September. "We demand that the House take the initiative and write new bills, inviting all parties concerned to take part," Rio said.