Page 201 - e-KLIPING KETENAGAKERJAAN 7 OKTOBER 2020

“Why, in this difficult time, [has the government and the House] placed more importance on
passing a far-reaching regulation that affects many sectors?”
Said and All-Indonesia Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI) president Andi Gani Nena Wea met
with President Jokowi on Monday in a closed-door meeting. Said stated the meeting took place
after Andi reached out to the President to express the labor group’s position on the bill.

The meeting, which took place on the same day as the House’s plenary session to pass the bill,
had invited speculation that it was part of the government’s effort to win over the labor groups’
support for the bill, which Said denied.

The KSPI president said that during Monday’s meeting, he and Andi had expressed their
objections largely centered on 10 issues, which include the reduction of severance pay and the
removal of the sectoral minimum wage (UMSK).

According to the law, employers could pay a maximum of 19 times the monthly salary, and an
additional six times the monthly salary will be paid by the government through the JKP scheme.
The JKP scheme will be managed by BPJS Ketenagakerjaan.

Article 46E of the bill stipulates that the source of funds for the JKP scheme, which has yet to be
established under the country’s social security system, will come from the government, workers’
premiums and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan operational funds.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chair for employment and social protection Harijanto,
meanwhile, insisted that the cost of the JKP scheme would be borne exclusively by the
government, not the employers or the employees.

“There are idle funds managed by BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, which receives premiums paid by
employers and employees. Not all of the funds [managed by BPJS] are going to be claimed [ by
workers],” said Harijanto on Monday, who also participated in a tripartite forum between
government, businesses and labor groups when discussing the bill.

“The funds are available. It is up to the government to think about allowing it to be reallocated
[for JKP].”

Apindo chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani welcomed the passage of the bill, telling the Post on
Monday that he hoped it would ensure more equitable economic growth for the country going
forward.
“We hope this is a new beginning to boost our economic growth and to make it more equitable
in the future,” said Hariyadi.

“More equitable economic growth means that jobs can be created in large numbers, therefore
the [benefits] of the economic growth can be enjoyed as widely as possible.”

Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid called the law “catastrophic”
as it would harm the workers’ income, job security and their human rights.

He said the new law might also breach the prohibition of retrogression principle in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), especially because the
law’s unclear provisions on minimum wage and working hours did not meet ICESCR
requirements.

Indonesia has since 2006 been a participant of the ICESCR, which was adopted by the United
Nations in 1966.

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