Yogyakarta, 30 April 2019 – “External factors, such as foreign investments, strengthen the notion of statist developmentalism, thus rendering the workforce sector in Indonesia to be more flexible,” as stated by Ari Hernawan, Professor of Labour Issues in Universitas Gadjah Mada during the May Day session of MAP Corner in the Fisipol UGM Unit II building.
He started the discussion by explaining several regulations regarding the workforce sector in Indonesia, such as Rule Number 13 2003 that was enacted to improve investments in Indonesia and the Indonesian economy as a whole. The state has an obligation to become a neutral third party that bridges the labourers and the business owners.
“The workforce policies in Indonesia still follow the national economic policies. Since foreign investments are highly valued, the workforce sector automatically becomes more flexible,” he stated.
The flexibility of the workforce sectors placed the labourers in a disadvantaged position with a weak bargaining power. Outsourcings and internships are some of the practices that the business owners can use. With this system, the business owners can easily fire their workers without having to pay their severance fees.
Furthermore, the discussion was continued by the second speaker, Arsiko, from the Indonesian Labour Union. According to him, the unity and solidarity of the labourers are essential to improve their bargaining power.
“The labourers must fully understand their rights, such as transport remunerations and nutritious food. All of those are already contained within the national laws,” he conveyed.
According to him, the labourers have already understood their rights, but the fulfilment of those rights is still haunted by various obstacles. For example, prior to organizing a demonstration, there is always a fear of dismissal by the business owners.
The discussion was proceeded by a question-and-answer session, which mainly covered the topic of the integration and the protection of labourers in the informal sector. Furthermore, external pressures to the state to spur economic growth, which led to a flexible workforce sector, was also another topic that was covered in this discussion.