TheJakartaPost
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Rough road in realizing decent work for all
A lack of monitoring and enforcement of laws and regulations are preventing Indonesian workers from gaining decent work.
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Standing for the rights: Members of labor unions in West Java stage a rally in front of the Gedung Sate heritage building in Bandung, West Java, on April 23 to call for improved wages and working conditions. (Antara/Novrian Arbi)
“They were all got trapped inside the building. No way out. We suspected the door was locked.” explained the head of the Binjai Policy Department in Langkat, North Sumatra, regarding a deadly incident that occurred in a gas lighter factory on June 21, which had killed 30 workers — at least three of whom were children.
Following an investigation, the director of the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) clarified that only one factory employee had insurance.
The investigation further revealed that the factory was illegal, lacked working safety procedures, violated minimum wage and safety environment requirements, and allegedly employed children.
This is utterly shocking and heartbreaking, yet the nightmare may continue, thus this workplace catastrophe may be the tip of the iceberg. We do not know for sure if the factory was the only one that violated fundamental workers’ rights or broader human rights. This incident is part of the gloomy picture of Indonesia’s working conditions, where many workers face informality, precariousness and uncertainty, and therefore, a higher level of vulnerability.
If we ask informal workers or workers dealing with high safety risks, “Why would you take such a high-risk job?” The answer would simply be because they do not have a choice and they need to feed their families. This complex picture of poverty, low-skilled workers and inadequate worker rights’ protection are jumbled and force workers themselves to pay the price.
There are two faces to these issues: the supply (the workers) side and demand side (the employers) of the labor market. From the workers’ side, the inability to deliver decent work is a mixed-picture of poverty, low skills and low education, and has forced low-skilled workers themselves to bear the costs.
Poverty is the push factor of accepting high-risks jobs, which is a complex issue in itself. A lack of skills and education are complicating the problem.
