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Jokowi signs Job Creation Law, making it effective amid nationwide protests
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A protester runs toward police officers on motorcycles during a clash in Jakarta on Oct. 13. A series of protests took place across the country following the House of Representatives’ decision to pass the job creation bill into law on Oct. 5. JP/Seto Wardhana (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signed the Job Creation Law, allowing it to enter into force nearly a month after it was passed by the House of Representatives and after a series of nationwide protests.
The President signed Law No. 11/2020 on Job Creation on Monday, a draft of which has been uploaded on the State Secretariat website, jdih.setneg.go.id.
The law consists of 1,187 pages, as recently confirmed by State Secretary Pratikno, following public confusions about multiple versions of the law circulating in public.
The law states that it is “expected to be able to absorb the widest possible Indonesian workforce amid increasing competition and the demands of economic globalization.”
It includes chapters on the improvement of the investment ecosystem and business activities; employment; convenience, protection and empowerment of cooperatives and small and medium enterprises; ease of doing business; national fiscal policy; research and innovation support.
In response to the promulgation of the law, the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) has stated its rejection and reiterated calls for the law be repealed.
The KSPI and the All-Indonesia Workers Unions Confederation (KSPSI AGN) have filed a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of the law.
“After we studied the content of the law, [we found that] the employment cluster is almost entirely detrimental to workers,” KSPI president Said Iqbal said in a statement on Tuesday.
Despite protest from workers and activists, the government insisted that the law, passed by the House on Oct. 5, was necessary to improve the business climate, as the country’s economy shrank 5.32 percent year-on-year in the second quarter this year amid the pandemic.
Highlighting some controversial points in the law, opponents are concerned that the law will clash with workers' rights and environmental protection. The lack of public participation and transparency in the deliberation of the law were also strongly criticized.
A wave of mass demonstrations has swept across major cities of the country for weeks since the law was endorsed.
