Jakarta, Nov 29 (Antara) - Indonesia's outsourced workers, who fought
for their aspirations during the term of the previous government, hope
that the new administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo helps to
improve their uncertain fate.
Activists and lawmakers also voice the aspirations of these workers,
urging President Jokowi and Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE)
Rini Soemarno to resolve the issue.
Thousands of workers are employed for years under the outsourcing
system at SOEs, wherein they worked based on contracts for a certain
period without official appointments.
"The
issue of outsourcing workers for state-owned companies has been
prevalent for nearly two years, but it has yet to be resolved, despite
the fact that all conditions for the implementation of the system
recommended by the SOE minister have been met," Ribka Tjiptaning, a
member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), said in a
press statement on Saturday.
Tjiptaning urged President Jokowi to resolve the problem.
The
same call was earlier voiced by activist Poempida Hidayatulloh,
chairman of the People's Welfare Organization (Orkestra). He stated that
SOE Minister Rini Soemarno should resolve the problem related to the
system of outsourcing workers, which employs them and leaves them with
an uncertain future.
"The outsourcing issue has entered a new phase with the establishment
of the new government. Paying attention to them and resolving their
issues will be the responsibility of SOE Minister Rini Soemarno,"
Hidayatulloh noted.
He added that this crisis will reveal whether the new government is taking sides with "small" people.
Thousands of outsourced workers at state companies are waiting for a change in their employment status.
"They have been working for tens of years, but their fates have yet to
garner attention from the government, especially from the previous SOE
minister Dahlan Iskan," he remarked.
Tjiptaning, whose political party PDIP nominated Jokowi for the July 9
presidential elections, pointed out that there was no reason for
Soemarno to not follow up on the recommendations of the House of
Representatives (DPR) regarding the system of outsourcing workers.
As the initiator and declarer of the DPR's Outsourcing Working
Committee's recommendations on SOEs, Tjiptaning vowed to take a strong
stand if new SOE Minister Rini Soemarno does not handle and cope with
the outsourcing problem soon.
"There is no reason for Soemarno to delay the implementation of the
recommendations issued by the working committee," she stated
Tjiptaning
added that the recommendations had been followed up with agreements
reached through meetings between the DPR and the government, i. e.
between the legislature and the manpower and state firm ministers.
Furthermore,
Orkestra Chairman Hidayatulloh questioned what breakthrough Soemarno
would make in handling the problems of outsourced workers.
"This is a serious problem. Soemarno, as the SOE minister, has no other
choice but to give priority to the outsourcing system problem,"
Hidayatulloh, who is also a Golkar politician and a former member of the
DPR's Commission IX on manpower affairs, affirmed.
He added that he will never stop fighting for the interest of small people.
"I will never stop voicing the interest of small people. After all,
this problem (of outsourcing) concerns the mandate of the constitution
and law number 13/2003 on manpower," he explained.
Moreover, President of the Indonesian Trade Unions Association (ASPEK)
Mirah Sumirat said earlier this month that the implementation of the
outsourcing system by SOEs and the Manpower Social Security Management
Agency (BPJS-K) constituted a violation of the 1945 Constitution
message.
She noted that in the name of the state, the SOE ministry and BPJS-K
exploited and discriminated against their outsourced workers who have
never had any certainties with regard to their future and are prone to
unilateral severance without any compensation.
"If
President Jokowi is unable to cope with this problem, it means he is
continuing with the previous regime of violating manpower laws," Sumirat
remarked.
She added that the SOEs ministry and the BPJS-K should have set the
best example of enforcing the law on manpower in this country. But facts
show that they violated articles 65 and 66 of law number 13/2003 by
outsourcing workers to carry out their core jobs.
Ironically, the state, through the SOEs, turned a blind eye to this
fact and perpetuated legal violations by practicing this system of work
for years.
She pointed out that recommendations of the DPR's Outsourcing Working
Committee, notes on violations of the law issued by the Manpower and
Transmigration Ministry, and legal opinions of the Attorney General's
office are all ignored by the SOE minister and the BPJS-K.
This can be attributed to the government's, in this case the president,
the SOE, and Manpower Ministry's, lack of attention to seriously
enforce the manpower law, she noted.
Moreover,
the Central Java chapter of the Indonesian Employers' Association
(Apindo) hoped that the outsourcing system was maintained.
"With
the outsourcing system, the company finds it easy to take sanctions
against recalcitrant workers. If workers fail to follow regulations or
fail to meet targets, the company can replace them with other workers
without the need to provide them with any severance pay. We can just ask
for substitutes from outsourcing workers service companies," Frans
Kongi, the Apindo chairman for Central Java, explained recently.
He
added that the company face difficulties if regular workers, i. e.
officially appointed employees, fail to meet required work standards.
"This is because work severance procedures are difficult and we have to
provide them with severance pay," Kongi remarked.
However, this system disadvantages workers as it leaves them with no certainties.
In addition, PDIP politician Tjiptaning reminded the government of the
importance of securing the economic fate and prosperity of people
working under the outsourcing system.
"Relations between workers and the management of SOEs are no longer
like those between a boss and his or her slaves," she commented, adding
that they were constitutional relations which should be understood by
SOEs as a form of mental revolution (a slogan used by Jokowi during his
presidential campaign).
"Jokowi is obligated to begin the mental revolution, starting with
resolving the problem of the outsourcing workers," she stated.
***3***
(T.A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 29-11-2014 20:04 |
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