S

ecretary of the state enterprises ministry, Said Didu, has expressed concern that many state enterprises are yet to provide protection for their employees as required by the 2003 Labor Law.

Speaking before unionists from state enterprises in Jakarta on Thursday, he said that from a legal perspective, state-owned enterprises should play a lead role in providing protection for their workers and should set a good example by implementing the labor law.

State enterprises have been urged to promote efficiency and increase their professionalism and productivity to improve the social welfare of almost one million workers employed in 149 state enterprises nationwide, he said.

Hotbonar Sinaga, president director of the state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek, said the state-owned power company PT PLN had not yet registered its employees with Jamsostek and many other companies had not reported all employees and their basic salaries, leaving thousands of workers unprotected.

"The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry should take harsh action against state-owned companies violating both the labor law and the 1992 Social Security Programs Law, otherwise we will bring the cases to the police and the Attorney General's Office," he said.

The law requires that all companies employing 10 or more workers, or paying Rp 1 million or more in monthly wages, must register workers in social security programs, including health care, occupational health and safety, as well as death and pension benefit schemes. Both employers and workers pay up to 11.7 percent of their gross monthly wages cumulatively for the four programs.

"Unfortunately, contract-based workers and employees recruited and paid by outsourcing companies have not been registered with Jamsostek.

"The law requires employers to register their workers, including both permanent and contract employees," he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Federation of the State-owned Workers Union (FSP BUMN), Abdul Latief Algaf, said his side would campaign for social security programs among unionists and companies at the company level as company management had been frequently unclear about social security programs.

"Unionists will encourage management at the company level to ensure the participation of all workers, including the registration of all contract-based employees with Jamsostek," he said.

The FSP BUMN said it would also approach other labor unions in the private sector to lobby the House of Representatives on a proposed review of the social security laws as the current system had been ineffective in protecting workers.