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Govt delays submitting bill, forms team to consult with unions
The government has once again been forced to postpone submitting an omnibus bill on job creation to the House of Representatives as it struggles to allay concerns among blue collar workers that the new legislation would undermine their rights
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span>The government has once again been forced to postpone submitting an omnibus bill on job creation to the House of Representatives as it struggles to allay concerns among blue collar workers that the new legislation would undermine their rights.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto was scheduled to submit a presidential letter (Surpres) notifying the House about the deliberations over the bill, as well as the bill itself, on Tuesday, according to several lawmakers from the ruling coalition.
The minister, however, failed to show up, leaving the lawmakers guessing about his no-show.
“They were supposed to come but they have not until now. We don’t know why. They did not tell us,” House Deputy Speaker Sufmi Ahmad Dasco told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s OK if they are still not ready.”
When asked about the incident, Susiwijono Moegiarso, secretary-general of the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, said that the minister had other duties.
"[Airlangga] attended a plenary Cabinet meeting at Bogor Palace. We will reschedule the submission of the Surpres and the bill soon," he told The Jakarta Post.
It was not the first time that the government failed to meet its own deadline for submitting the bill, which is to amend some 80 laws to make Southeast Asia's largest economy more attractive to local and global investors.
One of the key provisions in the bill concerns the rules for severance pay, which are among the most generous in the world.
Labor groups have opposed such provisions and planned to hold a major demonstration to protest the bill on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the government officially set up a team tasked with coordinating the deliberations and public consultations over the bill. The team was launched during a meeting between government officials and representatives of labor unions at the Manpower Ministry on Tuesday, Susiwijono said.
The team, which has been operating since Feb. 7, consists of 45 members representing the government, workers and employers, according to a coordinating economic ministerial decree about its creation, a copy of which was obtained by the Post.
A number of prominent labor leaders interviewed by the Post said they still did not know the contents of the bill and would rally to oppose it.
The All-Indonesia Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI) — led by Andi Gani Nena Wea — said it would mobilize about 10,000 people from various regions in Banten, West Java, and Greater Jakarta to take part in Wednesday's rally.
"I have instructed the KSPSI leaders to keep this big rally safe and peaceful. We will also work with the police to prevent intruders," said Andi, the son of the late Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician and former manpower minister Jacob Nuwa Wea.
Andi, who was once tapped as a potential manpower minister, said that he had attended a series of meetings organized by the State Palace, the National Police and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to talk about the bill, but the government had yet to disclose the details of the legislation.
The labor groups said they fear the bill would reduce severance payments, enforce an hourly pay system to replace the minimum wage and eliminate sanctions against companies that fail to provide health insurance.
It is unclear if the new draft bill would actually scrap these provisions.
Quoting an unnamed source involved in drafting the bill, Reuters reported on Tuesday that the bill aims to cut maximum severance payments to 19 times the monthly salary, down from 32 times now. To appease workers, the source added, the government would also make companies pay between one and five times the monthly salary to staff with at least one year of employment.
The payment, which would be capped at Rp 100 million (US$7,300), should be made within a year of the bill being passed, said the source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) president Said Iqbal said the workers were still solidly rejecting the bill, even though they had yet to see a “real copy” of it.
According to him, at least four large labor groups oppose the bill, including the KSPI and its splinter group headed by Golkar Party politician Yorrys Raweyai, Andi’s KSPSI and the National Welfare Movement.
“Our view is the same over the omnibus law. It means that 95 percent of the Indonesian workers have the same voice. Even a labor union that openly supported President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo in the 2019 race [Andi’s KSPI] also rejects it. We agree with the articles on easing investments but not on the labor welfare aspects."
