Page 55 - e-KLIPING KETENAGAKERJAAN 24 AGUSTUS 2020

This proposed revision contradicts Constitutional Court Ruling No. 19/PUU-IX/2011, which
stipulates that companies can use efficiency reasons to lay off workers only when they have
gone bankrupt or will close their business activities.

The bill also changes Article 66 of the 2003 Manpower Law that guarantees a specific time for a
company to hire temporary and outsourcing workers by adding the term “indefinite work
agreement”.

The team found that the proposed amendment contradicts Constitutional Court Ruling No.
27/PUU-IX/2011 stipulating that a company must have transition schemes to protect its workers.

Said Iqbal, the chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI), said that
despite the agreements, the labor unions in the team were still against labor provisions in the
bill.

“We urge for the labor cluster to be removed from the bill if possible and if the government
wants to resolve [the bill] quickly. We told the lawmakers to communicate this with the
government. We agree that the country needs more investments, especially following the COVID-
19 pandemic,” he said.

Lamhot Sinaga of the Golkar Party, a major supporter of the bill, said members of the bill’s
working committee had agreed to prioritize protection for workers.

“That’s a point we want to emphasize. We are pro investment but we don’t want to harm the
workers,” he said.

Union members and lawmakers held a two-day meeting on Thursday and Friday at Mulia Hotel
in Senayan, Central Jakarta, to discuss the disputed articles before reaching an agreement
announced on Friday. Baleg deputy chairman Willy Aditya of the NasDem Party led the meeting.
Despite the agreement, labor unions said they would still press ahead with their plan to hold
massive rallies on Tuesday to protest the bill, one in front of Office of Coordinating Economic
Minister and another in front of the House compound.

54