In February 2020, the government submitted the controversial Omnibus Bill on job creation to the house of representatives. President Jokowi initiated the Omnibus Bill to improve the ease of doing business in Indonesia and to attract investment – thereby boosting job opportunities and economic growth.
The Omnibus Bill on job creation would amend 73 laws and consists of 15 chapters and 174 articles.
Trade unions unitedly have led the opposition to the bill, opposing its reduction and elimination of overall rights for severance payments, the relaxation on the use of labour hire for core work activities, the end of minimum wages in some sectors, and the reduction of rights to paid leave in some circumstances. They also oppose the removal of the right to appeal to court about the reasons for dismissal. These revisions are criticized as a serious erosion of existing labour-rights.
The tripartite technical team for labour was formed on 3 July 2020. The technical team consists of the government, trade unions and employer representatives. 8 national trade union centres including KSBSI represented the worker’s voice in this technical team.
On 8 July 2020 the team met for the first time, however, 2 trade union centres withdrew from this technical team. They argued that the team does not have any political power to make a decision. Meanwhile, representatives of 6 national trade union centres including KSBSI considered that the inclusion of trade union representatives in the technical team was part of social dialogue and their strategy.
The technical team completed its deliberation on 23 July. All the views/recommendations from both employers and trade unions have been noted by the government and these will be submitted to the parliament. The KSBSI stated in their statements that trade unions and employers have many different views on the draft bill.
Process in the Parliament
The FSB Nikeuba (KSBSI) and other national trade union centres were separately invited by the house.
Following the KSBSI rally on 13 August, the KSBSI met with the House. On 19 August, KSBSI together with other national centres met with the 5 biggest fractions in the parliament (PDIP, GOLKAR, GERINDRA, NASDEM and PKB). In the meeting, they submitted a recommendation from the tripartite technical team on the Omnibus Law.
The parliament started the deliberation on 26 September 2020 and this is open for the public observation till now. The parliament expects to complete the deliberation by mid-October.
Possible Action
FSB Nikeuba is very disappointed with the progress in the parliament and we are considering to mobilize a general strike? Of course taking into account the impact of COVID-19.
