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Omnibus bill's tripartite forum upsets labor unions
Joining the other six unions that have abandoned discussions with representatives from the government and business, the National Workers Union (SPN) has decided to withdraw from the forum. The forum was initiated by the Office of the Economic Coordinating Minister to facilitate dialogue between the parties before passing the bill. The proposed bill contains articles about manpower and employment rights in Indonesia that are slated to be revised.
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Workers from the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) stage a protest against the controversial omnibus bill on job creation in front of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Feb. 12, 2020. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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s the government is insisting on keeping the provisions in the proposed omnibus bill on job creation on labor rights, another union has decided to leave a tripartite forum set up to support the deliberation process.
Joining the other six unions that have abandoned discussions with representatives from the government and business, the National Workers Union (SPN) has decided to withdraw from the forum. The forum was initiated by the Office of the Economic Coordinating Minister to facilitate dialogue between the parties before passing the bill. The proposed bill contains articles about manpower and employment rights in Indonesia that are slated to be revised.
Among other revisions, the proposed omnibus bill would revise the 2003 Manpower Law and regulate industrial relations, working hours, wages, job termination and regulations regarding the hiring of foreign workers.
The ministry has invited 14 labor unions to the forum to discuss the proposed revisions with the government and the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo). With the departure of the SPN, there are now only seven unions participating in the dialogue.
SPN chairman Djoko Heriyono said that the group was disappointed since the tripartite forum acted mostly as a hearing session for the government and there was no guarantee that the feedback would be incorporated in the deliberation process.
“We were not given any position to revise the law. [The forum] is only a hearing mechanism while the deliberation process is still in the hands of the government and the House of Representatives. At first we were optimistic that we could participate in revising the bill,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The union, which represents garment and textile workers in nine cities and regencies, is now demanding that the government withdraw the bill before the deliberation process.
