Febrianto Adi Saputro, Jessi Carina, Jakarta – The Executive Board (PP) of the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) Confederation has highlighted the process by which the Labour Protection Law was enacted by the House of Representatives (DPR) at a plenary session on October 6, which they believe lacked transparency.
"The KASBI Confederation has yet to receive an official copy of the law and do not yet know for certain the final text that was enacted", said KASBI PP Chairperson Sunarno in a statement on Wednesday November 4.
Sunarno urged lawmakers to be transparent and not to restrict public access to legislative products. According to Sunarno, the enactment of a law does not the end of the lawmakers' political and legal responsibilities toward the people.
"It should not end with a political approval ceremony inside the legislative chamber", he asserted.
He explained that since the regulation concerns matters such as employment relations, wages, apprenticeships, layoffs (PHK), outsourcing, severance pay, platform workers, vulnerable workers and the enforcement of labour laws, the working class has the right to be fully informed about the rules that will be implemented.
It is not enough for the DPR and the government to merely state verbally that the law has been passed and that it has accommodated the demands of trade unions.
"The final text must be accessible, reviewable, and understandable by the public, especially the working class who will be directly affected by the provisions of this law", he said.
Responding to this situation, the KASBI Confederation is urging the DPR and the government to immediately provide an official copy of the Labour Protection Law to the KASBI Confederation and all trade unions in Indonesia, and to ensure that the final enacted text is made openly accessible to the public.
Second, the KASBI Confederation is demanding transparency regarding the follow-up to the input and demands submitted by trade unions, including an explanation of which proposals were accepted, modified or rejected, as part of upholding the principles of the right to be heard, the right to be considered and the right to be explained.
Third, the KASBI Confederation is demanding the strengthening of sanctions and the enforcement of labour laws. This includes addressing violations related to employment relationships, the misuse of outsourcing, the fulfillment of severance pay obligations and violations of the rights of platform and vulnerable workers in various other sectors, such as healthcare, education, tourism, plantations, mining, transportation, domestic work, the maritime and fisheries industry, restaurants, hospitality the creative sector, the arts, media and more.
Fourth, the KASBI Confederation is also demanding the strengthening of labour oversight through institutional capacity, resources, complaint mechanisms and effective law enforcement in order to ensure that worker protections do not end up as just written norms that cannot be implemented in law enforcement practice.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Buruh Desak DPR dan Pemerintah Segera Buka Naskah UU Pelindungan Ketenagakerjaan".]
