Indonesia protests big reversal on labor rights

Thousands of workers have been resisting the Indonesian governments Omnibus Bill on job creation, which the House of Representatives passed on October 5, 2020. This new law attacks labor rights since it does not provide job security and provides leeway for employers to fire workers. Today we want to convey our aspirations to the House of Representatives, but what have we witnessed here my friends? In front of us

we stand valiantly, firmly, on the walls and barbed wire my friends, is this what is called the people's right to express opinions but is never heard, but only the walls to listen! The new law significantly reduces protections for workers under the 2003 labor law, including on minimum wages, severance pay, vacation, maternity benefits, and health and child care, and abolishes legal protections in permanent employment contracts. The

roughly 1,000-page law was largely drafted by the business community, with little consultation from labor unions and other affected groups. People who have just started work or are in the recruitment process, on average they are no longer permanent employees The system implemented is outsourcing, internship and daily freelancing. For the contract outsourcing systems there are also changes for up to five years. This means that workers who work

in this system have low probability of being appointed as permanent workers. Later they will always work as contract laborers, it may even be difficult for the younger generation to become permanent employees. They no longer have freedom of association. Even the title of this Omnibus Law is The Job Creation Law or government regulation in lieu of law, it actually contradicts with the goal of creating jobs itself.

In fact, these two or three years have seen massive layoffs. When hiring takes place, the approach typically involves outsourcing and giving internships. Deprivation of labor rights, deprivation of our rights, deprivation of union rights, there is no certainty of work, no wages. The Omnibus Law of job creation opens the way and gives more legitimacy to employers to deprive workers of wages, to exploit workers. The same thing

also happened in the agricultural sector experienced by the peasants. The Job Creation Law became a way for Jokowi (president of Indonesia), became a way for capitalists to monopolize foreign land to further monopolize to continue to seize people's land. In several practices, companies have begun to eliminate women's rights, such as menstruation leave because menstrual leave is equated with sick leave. Where the previous legal regulations, menstrual leave

was a right that could be obtained by workers on the first and second day when they menstruate. But now the company's practice is that they have to be really sick before they get time off and have bed rest during their periods. This is one of the impacts where the government through the law equates the position of workers with employers as equals, so that they can negotiate

for themselves. With this Omnibus Law they will make permanent employees become contract employees, so that companies don't need to issue THR (religious holiday allowance), severance pay, and BPJS insurance (Social Insurance Administration Organization). So, this oppression is really real. The Indonesian's condition is just sad now. Politicians say I defend the people, I defend the people. And that's a lie. No one cares about us anymore. The proof

is that many parties support the Omnibus Law. If we want to change our own fate, we have to fight alone. There is nothing to rely on anymore. So sad. The Constitutional Court ordered the government to amend key parts of the legislation within two years of the laws passage. Jokowis emergency regulation, which required parliaments approval, was designed to fulfill the courts request. The new regulation isnt radically

to obtain an official version of the draft bill, which contains about 185 articles in 15 chapters. Government told parliament that the new law was necessary to bolster Indonesias competitiveness in uncertain times, including climate change, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the continuing economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade unions aim to continue putting pressure on the government in the hope more protections will be provided for workers.

If it's up to the workers here today, they will continue to take to the streets until the government listens. In the last two years or three years, the increases in UMK (district minimum wages) has been minimal, even two years without any wage increase at all. Furthermore, it has been three years since there has been no increase in sectoral wages. For example workers who work in the

chemical, metal, electronics, machinery, automotive industry sectors, they do not have sectoral wage increases because the Omnibus Law and government regulation derivative laws are not enforced. It means that in wage council negotiations, sectoral wages are no longer discussed. Then, the impact on workers affected by layoffs regarding layoffs, there is also a kind of degradation of the severance pay. Previously, if workers were laid off because of efficiency,

they got severance rights of approximately two PMTK, but now only one PMTK. even if there are two PMTK, usually the 25% uses JKP (Job Loss Guarantee) and the value is automatically reduced for workers who are laid off. The most profitable are investors or owners of capital or entrepreneurs. Automatically the workers are the most disadvantaged. Today, the Indonesian people staged a protest at the DPR/RI building for

one demand. we urge the president to revoke and cancel PERPU 02 of 2022 concerning The Job Creation law. This government regulation in lieu of law (PERPU), is something that threatens especially for workers. I am part of a labor union, the contents of the regulations are the same as the Omnibus Law of job creation, and the contents are even worse. it's not just about the contents, this

PERPU is a trick from the president of Indonesia, it's to smooth over The Job Creation Law which in 2021 was decided conditionally unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. In the Constitutional Court's decision, the government law should make improvements by paying attention to public participation, but up to 14 months since the Constitutional Court's decision was read, the government had no intention or effort to make improvements or efforts

to involve public participation from various sectors that are important in the 11 clusters of The Job Creation Law, at the end of 2022, President Jokowi even issued Perppu Cipta Kerja Where it seems as if the government or the president thinks there is a legal vacuum. In various views, legal experts and former constitutional court judges said that the Perppu was legally flawed First, because there are no

conditions regarding the urgency that are required for a Perppu to be issued. Second, when the Perppu is issued, it should be passed into law in the closest session of the DPR/RI. However, at the last plenary session, the DPR/RI failed to pass the Perppu into law. Thus, this Perppu can no longer be used as a legal instrument. Earlier, Dewi from KPA (Consortium for Agrarian Reform) mentioned that

before The Job Creation Law was enacted, massive agrarian conflicts occurred, land grabbing and monopoly continued for corporations, plantations, mining, and also for national strategic projects. Has there been job certainty since the publication of The Job Creation Law for workers? When the law is issued, is there certainty about our wages? it is very unequal and very different. Therefore, women workers or laborers in general need labor unions

or guarantees from the government through law regarding their rights to bargain, organize, and the right to strike. In fact, it is very clear that the government is very servile to the oligarchy. It was strengthened again by the issuance of Perppu. We have rejected the Omnibus Law but they strengthened it again with Perpuu, the derivative articles regarding government regulation numbers 35, 36, 37 about all kinds of

wages are very detrimental to us. Obviously, our salary has not increased at all. Even now it's going up, the company can hamper our salary increase by itself. Because they feel that they have been protected by the government So, we ask the government to remember the people, love the people. You could say we are a street parliament, it is on the streets that we fight. Because if

we entrust our fate to people in the DPR, they ignore us.