Strength in numbers - Achieved by partners in Indonesia in 2023

 Labour rights: More than 90.070 workers, of which 43% women and 25% younger than 35 years old, benefitted from activities pursuing more awareness, a better understanding and knowledge of the regulation on the wage structure and scale, on the Job Creation Law and its impact on workers, on how to negotiate CBA’s and MoU’s, on how to prevent and deal with gender-based violence at the shop floor. In several companies CBA proposals were drafted or agreements were concluded and signed. 

Social security: 62.469 people, of which 30% women and 11% younger than 35 years, were reached through actions focussing on giving access to better social security. 

INSP!R Indonesia mobilised 1766 of its members (81% women, 41 under 35 y/o) to advocate during the drafting of two new regulations regarding health and SP for migrant workers, as well as on adaptive social protection and other social protection issues. INSP!R Indonesia also raised the awareness of 5.140 people on these matters through leaflets and videos (accessible to people with disabilities).

Since 2023 was an election year, INSP!R Indonesia analysed the positions of the various candidates on social protection and submitted policy recommendations to 19 policy makers.

Indonesian context in 2023 related to social protection and INSP!R network issues

At the end of December 2022, President Joko Widodo issued an emergency regulation on Job Creation to replace the Omnibus Law, with the reason of addressing global recession risks in 2023 and for attracting more foreign investment at the expense of workers’ rights. The Indonesian Unions rejected the new regulation as some provisions in the regulation have given governors discretionary power to determine the minimum wage, affect outsourcing, severance pay, recruitment of foreign workers and criminal sanctions against employers which will impact workers.

Seeing the shrinking of democratic space in the region, many trade unions and civil society organizations are trying to defend and reclaim their democratic space. 

A new Health Law came into force in Indonesia on 8 August 2023. The new law (Law No.17 of 2023 on Health) (Health Law) holds monumental implications for the development and transformation of Indonesia's health care system. The Health Bill not only potentially deprives people of their health rights but also threatens public safety.

WSM was able to initiate and facilitate the creation of a new platform: the Global Union Indonesia Network, to unite the affiliates of the International Trade Union Confederation and Global Federations in Asia with National Trade Unions centres in Indonesia as one of the best practice of building unity. The platform has been successfully placing the controversial Indonesia’ Law on Job Creation on the short list of cases of non-compliance for the ILO Convention nr. 98 on Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. The report of the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards concluded that the Job Creation Law is in non-compliance with the ILO C.98 and therefore the ILO CAS recommended the government of Indonesia to reform the Labor Law with focus on the Job Creation Law by having a proper and a time-bound dialogue with the most representative unions in Indonesia. As a lesson learned: with openness and cooperation, we are able to unite in one platform the majority of national trade union centres, including some of the labour NGOs and solidarity support organizations.

Wheels in motion: the Belgian ambassador visits an Indonesian tyre factory

The Belgian Ambassador in Jakarta and the DGD went to Elang Perdana Tyre Industry and its local union affiliated to LOMENIK federation, part of WSM's partner KSBSI.

This company is currently in its 8th Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and has a zero-tolerance policy for gender harassment. They’ve established a wage structure and other measures for worker well-being. As part of the supply chain exporting to Europe, they follow relevant HRDD legislation. Most workers are permanent, and good working conditions result from constructive social dialogue.

The company, founded in 1997 with new Indonesian management in 2003, is gradually expanding. Despite pandemic challenges, they export 70% of their production to 85 countries while adhering to quality standards. The Trade union, with 1,600 members (only 8 women) out of 1,900 workers (70 women), focuses on welfare, occupational health and safety (OHS), and social security (SS). They compete with Chinese manufacturers, which limits their offerings.

An OHS committee ensures safety, with a program of 1,000 accident-free days and locally available ambulances. Training has improved knowledge and practices. Legal assistance was provided during a dismissal case. In future CBA negotiations, they aim for better allowances. However, since the 2017 government regulation on wage scales, salary negotiations at the company level are restricted. They hope for legal amendments to allow negotiation flexibility.

A blind woman gets new inspiring insights - INSP!R Indonesia 2023

Rina is 47, from Indonesia and a member of the Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities (HWDI), member of INSP!R Indonesia:
 “As someone with a disability, INSP!R Indonesia has given me new insights. Before, I mostly talked to other disabled people. But with INSP!R Indonesia, I learned that many organizations discuss disability issues, especially social security rights. I work in a hotel and know about social security, but many of my disabled friends don’t. Some can’t hear or speak, and few go to school. 

I hope INSP!R Indonesia can create schools for people with disabilities. Education is essential not only for disabled kids but also for their parents to understand its importance. With support, people with disabilities can be independent.”

Indonesian garment workers negotiate - Indonesia, 2022

Name: AlfidaArsini
Age:  27 years old
Nationality: Indonesian
Location: PT Chang Shin Indonesia, Karawang, West Jawa
Profession: garment worker

At PT. Chang Shin Indonesia, which is a Korean company producing sport shoes and sandals, Alfida is a member of the local GARTEKS company union. Most of the workers in the factory have no clue what are the benefits of becoming a union member. They have no knowledge about what a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is, let alone how it is negotiated. They have little understanding about their labour rights that are being violated, and about gender equality at the shopfloor. 

The local branch of GARTEKS provides basic training to the workers in the factory who become member of GARTEKS and explain them about their basic labour rights, about how to negotiate with the management and about CBA’s. The workers also receive training on gender equality. Once they have had the training the workers are able to understand better their own situation in the factory and what are the minimum labour standards that should be respected. Many workers, through the training, are also capable of solving their problems without any assistance from the local branch or from the National Board of GARTEKS.

Some results by intervention strategy...

Labour rights

More than 60.000 workers, of which 47% women and 32% younger than 35 years old, benefitted from activities pursuing more awareness, a better understanding and knowledge of the regulation on the wage structure and scale, on the Job Creation Law and its impact on workers, on how to negotiate CBA’s and MoU’s, on how to prevent and deal with gender-based violence at the shop floor. In several companies CBA proposals were drafted or agreements were concluded and signed. The minimum wage increase announced for 2023 is 7%, which is more than the inflation rate in 2022 (5,51%) or economic growth (5,77%).

Social security

53.597 people, of which 40% women and 30% younger than 35 years, were reached through actions focussing on access to better social security.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE WORKERS’ FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - INSP!R INDONESIA

Press Release 28 April 2021 Commemorating International Occupational Safety and Health Day

According to data from BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (Social Insurance Body on employment), cases of work accidents in Indonesia continue to increase from year to year. In 2017, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan recorded as many as 123,040 work accident cases in Indonesia (with a claim fee of IDR 971.95 billion), which increased in 2018 to 173,415 cases (with a claim fee of IDR 1.22 trillion) and increased again in 2019 to 182,835 cases (with a claim fee of IDR 1.57 trillion). Of these work accident cases, over 4,500 people died and more than 2,400 caused disabilities.

As of January 2021, the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) recorded 504 health workers died due to COVID-19. They consist of 237 doctors, 15 dentists, 171 nurses, 64 midwives, 7 pharmacists and 10 medical laboratory personnel. This number still excludes support staff such as cleaners, hospital staff and health volunteers who died or were exposed to COVID-19 due to their work. The death rate of health workers in Indonesia is the highest in Asia and the fifth largest in the world.

Every worker has the FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT to live and be healthy, avoiding work accidents or occupational diseases. Law number 1 of 1970 concerning Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) lays down the basic principles of implementing OSH. The OSH management system must be implemented in all workplaces, without exception, including the requirements for health protocols, personal protective equipment, OSH training, supervision, prevention, and treatment. Social security, especially death and work injury insurance, must be implemented in all workplaces.

The high number of deaths and disabilities continues to increase due to accidents and diseases in the workplace, among others caused by:

1. Law no. 1 of 1970 concerning Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) can no longer answer current challenges and problems, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic
2. The government has not made OSH a priority issue, so education and socialization regarding the regulations and importance of OSH are not optimal, especially for contract workers, seasonal workers, digital platform workers, informal workers, domestic workers, migrant workers, and workers with disabilities.
3. The weak role of labor inspectors and law enforcement to ensure that OSH provisions are carried out properly according to the provisions, as well as the ineffective role of the OSH tripartite institutions at the national down to the company level.
4. Weak awareness of employers to comply with legal rules on OSH. There are still many employers who consider OSH as a cost or burden, not an investment in human resources that can support workers productivity.
5. There are still many workers who have not been registered with the employment Social Security program, especially women workers in the informal sector, contract workers, seasonal workers, digital platform workers, domestic workers, migrant workers, and workers with disabilities. As of February 2021, the number of active participants in Work Accident and Death Security benefits from groups of wage earners was 19.26 million, migrant workers were 350.000, construction service workers were 5.46 million people and participants who did not receive wages were 2.68 million people.
6. The process of claiming work accident or occupational disease benefits is carried out by the company, while often the company is reluctant to report a work accident or occupational disease in order to maintain its 'zero accident' status. This is detrimental to workers, especially for workers who are exposed to diseases but are no longer working in the company.
7. Apart from the problems above, currently BAPPENAS (National Planning Body) and DJSN (National Council of Social Security) are initiating a merger of the JKK (Work Injury Program) and JKN (Health Care Program) so that later curative financing due to occupational accidents and occupational diseases will be managed by BPJS Kesehatan (Social Security Body for Health). This plan will certainly be detrimental to workers who have received work accident insurance services in the form of curative, rehabilitative, and unemployment benefits, to vocational training.

To that end, we, International Network for Social Protection Rights Indonesia (INSP!R Indonesia), representing 13 civil society organizations, part of the International Network for Social Protection Rights (INSP!R), are demanding the Indonesian government to:

1. Immediately revise Law no. 1 of 1970 concerning Occupational Safety and Health to answer the latest OSH challenges, and to make OSH a fundamental right for every worker, equally for men and women, without exception, in all workplaces, including OSH for contract workers, seasonal workers, digital platform workers, informal workers, domestic workers, migrant workers and workers with disabilities. Hereby, INSP!R Indonesia supports the position of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to include OSH as a fundamental right of workers at the ILO 110th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2022.
2. Increase the role of supervision and law enforcement of OSH regulations, as well as ensure the effective role of the OSH tripartite institutions in companies, particularly the implementation of Health protocols in all workplaces.
3. Conduct education and socialization on OSH to all workers, with budget support from the APBN / APBD (National budget/ District budget) and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (Social Security Body on Employment).
4. Encourage the Ministry of Manpower and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (Social Security Body on Employment) to open an effective space for reporting, complaints and claim benefits for work accidents and occupational diseases, including for persons with disabilities.
5. Expand the participation and benefits of the Work Injury Security and Death Security Program for contract workers, seasonal workers, digital platform workers, informal workers, domestic workers, migrant workers and workers with disabilities.
6. Strictly reject the plan to incorporate the Work Accident Insurance into the National Health Insurance because it will undermine benefits of programs for workers.
7. Support the implementation of the “Independent” COVID-19 Vaccine, with strict rules and supervision without burdening workers at any cost.

Please maintain Health protocols.

List of member organizations of INSP!R Indonesia:

1. KSBSI (All Indonesian Trade Union
2. Confederation)
3. BPJS Watch (Social Security Watch)
4. KPI (Indonesia Women Coalition)
5. PJS (Association of Mental Health Indonesia)
6. JBM (Migrant Workers Network)
7. TURC (Trade Union Research Center)
8. Flower Aceh (Aceh Women Organization)
9. Gajimu.com (Platform on Wage)
10. LIPS/TPOLS (Sedane Labor Institute)
11. GARTEKS (Trade Union Federation of Garment, Textile, Leather and Shoes)
12. REKAN (Indonesia Health Volunteer)
13. KAPRTBM (Coalition of Domestic workers and migrant workers)
14. JAPBUSI (Indonesia Workers Network on Palm Oil)

ILO Convention 190: One year later....

In June 2019, the ILO adopted the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) and its supplementing Recommendation (No. 206). Violence and harassment is unacceptable anywhere and at any time, whether in times of prosperity or of crisis. Nevertheless, the risk of violence and harassment is even higher in crises, including during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

 

To mark the first anniversary of the adoption of both instruments, the ILO will organize a virtual high-level event with the participation of the ILO Director-General, Mr Guy Ryder, to discuss their role in responding and recovering from the current COVID-19 pandemic.

WSM and the members of the network on the right to social protection were strongly invested in the drafting and passing of the ILO Convention 190 regarding Violence and Harassment in the world of work. Today, two members of the ANRSP attended the ILO webinar. Sulistri from KSBSI shared:"Uruguy is the first country which  ratified C190 and Fiji’s ratification has already reached ILO Geneva."

Sr Christy from National Domestic Workers Movement in India added:"ILC190 is even more relevant in COVID-19 pandemic times. Violence against those caring for the sick, disabled and health workers are increasing. There are limited opportunities for trade unions, people's movement and organisations to intervene. We should initiate policy making and awareness raising and it is more important than ever to push governments to ratify and implement the Convention, as C190 protects all range of workers, formal and informal, as well as ethnic groups." 

Migrant, garment workers and social security - Indonesia in 2019

Yusi Candi is a migrant worker who worked in Saudi Arabia. She was struck by disaster while working abroad but now her condition has improved. Currently Yusi works as an honorary teacher in a kindergarten in Karawang district, where she previously had worked as a migrant worker. Yusi didn’t not know all of her rights and obligations as a migrant worker until she had an accident. In Indonesia she was assisted by SPMI and she learned why for prospective migrant workers it is important to be recruited through legal channels. She now passes on the information to other migrant workers , whom plan to go working abroad.Yusi also played an active role in her area helping with the handling of cases of abused migrant workers for SPMI. She’s also thinking of becoming an organizer for SPMI in her living area, aside from her job as a teacher. That way Yusi hopes she can contribute to the trainings of SPMI in this area, so she can provide a better understanding and training to migrant workers before they go abroad on how to migrate in a legal way, and what are the legal rights of Indonesian migrant workers going abroad. Because in Yusi’s living area there are still many illegal departures.

Political, economic and social context
Presidential elections were held on 17 April 2019. Incumbent president Joko Widodo won 55,5 % of all votes, while his opponent Prabowo Subianto lost the election with 44,5% of the votes. However, as in 2014, Subianto was not ready to accept the result and petitioned the Constitutional Court to cancel the results of the election, bringing fraud allegations against Widodo. This created a lot of political tension, with protesters rioting in the streets of Jakarta. In the end the Court ruled against the petition of electoral fraud and upheld Widodo’s victory. In October President Widodo surprisingly appointed Subianto as Defense Minister in his new government. The new cabinet introduced a draconian package of economic reforms, also known as the ‘OMNIBUS – law’. The Indonesian government says the goal of the package is to create jobs and to increase competitiveness through simplification of existing laws, making it easier for businesses to invest. However, partner organization KSBSI says that the ‘OMNIBUS – law’  (which is actually a cluster of 74 different laws, divided over 11 policy areas) will substantially remove the existing protection mechanisms for workers that have been created over a period of 20 years, not in the least the Labour Law of 2003 and the Law concerning Trade Unions of 2000. Together with two other trade union confederations KSPI and KSPSI, KSBSI has reactivated the union platform MPBI, to lobby against the enactment of the OMNIBUS – law.

Indonesia and COVID-19: KSBSI facilitates pre-employment card and SPMI assists returning migrant workers

Indonesia has one of the lowest rates of COVID-19 testing, and it is concentrated in greater Jakarta where the country’s best medical facilities are. It is still unclear what containment measures Indonesian authorities will take, beyond social distancing and handwashing, to lower the rate of infections. The Indonesian President, however, has announced to allocate 2,55% of GDP or 15,9% of the APBN (state budget) for COVID-19 mitigation. It’s aimed at keeping Indonesia’s economy afloat during the coming weeks. For the moment, they’re mainly focussing on prevention. “The more individuals in the community learn about the preventive messages, the more chance they have to beat the virus”, said Yurianto, Government’s spokesman for COVID19-related matters.  The Indonesian government will implement a "Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB)" starting in Jakarta and surroundings city on 10 April. Every region in Indonesia can ask the Central government for PSBB implementation when it meets the requirements, such as data on increased number of COVID-19, prepared health facilities, quarantine plan, food distribution, cash transfer plan, limitation of public transport, etc.

WSM partner, the trade union KSBSI negotiated with management to set up hygiene and safety measures in the companies and factories to protect workers from the virus.  MPBI (KSPI, KSPSI and KSBSI) provides disinfectant spraying for the general public and distributes hands sanitizers to people in need.

KSBSI is also socializing and assisting members to collect data on workers lay-offs so that they can be registered for pre-employment benefits card, which has a cash transfer of 1 million IDR per month (around 80 Euro), for the next 4 months due to COVID-19.

WSM other partner in Indonesia, SPMI (previously SBMI) was involved to collect data from and assist at least 3.000 migrant workers that returned to Indonesia. They also had to pressure management for the payment of outstanding salaries for workers who had to leave.

ILO overview of COVID-19 measures implemented by governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and the ILO for Indonesia: link

Indonesia: Social Protection for Informal Workers - ILO refers to KSBSI and SBMI for good practice

The ILO published a Condemium of Practice which compiles examples of how trade unions have reached out to workers in the informal economy, improved their working conditions, and supported their transition into the formal economy, as linked to ILO Recommendation 204. In it, they refer for Indonesia to WSM partners KSBSI and SBMI.

The ITUC was involved in helping the ILO identify good examples for inclusion in this publication, and the final result can be a very valuable resource because it provides a large number of concrete examples to contradict claims from some that ‘’trade unions are not representative of informal workers’’. Download the full publication here. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE INFORMAL ECONOMY AND GENDER:
In Indonesia, the proportion of informal employment amounts to 83.5 per cent of total employment (including agriculture).

For 2018, applying this proportion to total employment results in an estimated number of 104 million informal workers in Indonesia. All contributing family workers are in informal employment by definition. Own-account workers have the next highest percentage of informality.

Many people in the informal economy are employees (47,8 per cent of total informal employment). Over 84.8 per cent of Indonesia’s total female workforce is employed in the informal economy, against 82.7 per cent for men. A significant portion of these women are unpaid workers.

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS IN TERMS OF REPRESENTATION, SERVICES AND INCLUSIVENESS OF SOCIAL DIALOGUE:
• Improved trade union organization, representation and provision of services to informal workers.
• Extended social security for informal workers, including migrant workers.

THE STORY:
The Confederation of Indonesia Prosperity Trade Union (KSBSI) is a national trade union centre in Indonesia. It was founded in 1992 and has 2.1 million members. From 2017 until 2021, KSBSI and the General and Informal Construction Federation (FKUI), (the federation organizing informal economy workers) will be offering a training programme for workers in the informal economy (street vendors, motor taxi drivers working for the Go-Jek online package delivery application, and others). In this training programme, the trade union is raising the awareness of informal economy workers about the Indonesian social security system, which includes universal health insurance for all and different social security schemes covering workers, such as working accident insurance, a pension scheme and an old age and death allowance.

In addition to training, KSBSI also conducts campaigns, workshops and advocacy to improve the concrete implementation of the social security system, to make sure that workers in the informal economy are able to claim their social security rights.

Both the KSBSI and the FKUI have recorded significant progress in organizing informal economy workers in the construction industry, home-based and domestic workers, on-line drivers and street vendors. Bringing them into the trade union fold has contributed to the union’s strength, in particular addressing decent work deficits in the informal economy. One of the greatest achievements of their campaigns is that the central government is committed to attaining universal health coverage by 2019.

Another big achievement for KSBSI, in partnership with the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union SBMI, was the adoption by the Indonesian Parliament of the new Migrant Workers’ Act on 25 October 2017, which creates the legal basis for the inclusion of millions of Indonesian migrant workers in the social security system, which should increase their access to social insurance significantly. The new law came after years of campaigning by migrant workers’ rights groups to end exploitation and modern slavery. The new law places the responsibility on regional and local administrations to oversee their residents who want to migrate abroad for work. As a part of this shift towards local governance, regional administrations are now in charge of providing pre-departure vocational training and ensuring that workers receive proper placement, thus taking away much of the unchecked power of private recruitment companies to charge exorbitant fees, often trapping workers in debt bondage.

RESULTS:
Better representation, improved skills and enhanced social protection for informal workers, through their participation in trade union activities, will contribute to formalization and decent work.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION:
• Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ILO-ACTRAV): actrav@ilo.org
• ILO COOP Unit: coop@ilo.org
• ILO Country Office: jakarta@ilo.org
• Konfederasi Serikat Buruh Sejahtera Indonesia KSBSI: denksbsi@gmail.com
• ITUC Asia-Pacific: gs@ituc-ap.org

Indonesia moves toward universal system of social protection

After many years of focusing on pro-poor and targeted approach of fighting poverty, since 2004 Indonesia is shifting its SP system towards universalism of social protection. The umbrella law number 40/2004 on SJSN (Indonesian National Social Security System) was adopted to provide five benefits programmes : Universal Health care, Accident at work insurance, Old age insurance, life insurance and pension fund.

After joint pressure from the trade Unions, in 2014, 10 years after its adoption, the government started to implement the Universal health care in 2014, and other labor related programmes and pension fund in 2015. The management of SJSN will be under two non-for-profit social security administrating bodies for Universal health care (BPJS health) and other Labor related programmes (BPJS Labor). It is monitored by a national board of social security (DJSN), also responsible to formulate general policies of the system. All these three bodies include representatives from government, employers, trade unions and academic/experts.

Sustainable Development Goals 1.3 focuses on implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems and measure for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and vulnerable. In 2016, the World Bank, the ILO and world leaders launched the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection (GP-USP 2030) aimed to help countries to reach SDG 1.3. The Global Partnership created an interim steering committee composed out of two representatives from high-income countries, two representatives from Middle-income countries (Indonesia and Mexico) and two from representatives of Low-income countries. 

Prior to the ILO Global Social Protection Week, 25-28 November 2019, Indonesia partners KSBSI with WSM took the initiative to organize a national forum on Social protection, on 6th of November 2019 in Jakarta. The key resource speakers and their topics: Mr. Maliki (Interim Steering Committee in the GP-USP2030) on Indonesia Roadmap for USP, Mr. Rekson Silaban (KSBSI/ workers’ reps in BPJS) on CSO/TU Agenda setting on SP, Mr. Subiyanto (KSPSI/ workers’ reps in DJSN) on 15 years of SP and Mr. Irham Saifuddin (ILO Jakarta) on SP Floor.
Also attending were all trade union confederations; KSBSI, KSPSI, KSPI, migrant workers organizations; SBMI and JBM, Wage Indicators, Japbusi-Plantation workers alliance, and many national federations, from garment sector to informal workers.

The forum agreed on a common national agenda:

1.  Harmonization of laws and regulation on SP; Revision of Law nr. 40/2004 and other regulations;
2. Expansion of coverage on ‘missing middle’, informal workers, migrant workers, domestic workers, workers in plantation sector, and workers in  a micro-small enterprises (who can’t afford a whole package of social security);
3. Unemployment Insurance: insurance for workers whose job are terminated or as an impact of Industrial revolution 4.0 by providing re-skilling, up-skilling and vocational training;   
4. Increasing benefits for workers on accident and life insurance and housing for workers.

With the parliament and presidential elections finished and new cabinets were established by accommodating competitors, political tensions are rapidly decreasing. It opens the possibility for various trade union and civil society organizations to jointly work and advocate for Universal Social Protection.

Indonesia in numbers in 2018: Main results of the programme

Minimum wage and wage scale structure:
- 1.163.435 staff and members of KSBSI (of which 41 % women and 50% young people) were involved in awareness raising activities, trainings and advocacy actions to inform the workers  and to give advocacy on the system to set the annual minimum wage, the level of the minimum wage and the implementation of the new wage scale structure.
- Garment workers: In 2018 GARTEKS, the garment federation of KSBSI, has organized and raised the capacity on labour rights and the Freedom of Association Protocol in the garment sector for 2.631 garment workers (of which 55% women and 63% young people). This included legal assistance and grievance handling. In the process GARTEKS could affiliate 1.750 new members.
- Migrant workers: SBMI reached out to 2.963 people (of which 66% women and 62% young people) by raising the capacity of SBMI trainers to assist the migrant workers and by handling migrant workers’ grievance cases in 10 provinces over Indonesia.
- Social security:70.651 staff and members of KSBSI (of which 35% women and 63% young people) were given  training on the Indonesian health insurance system, the social security for workers (working accident scheme, death insurance, pension) and the state of affairs with regards to the concrete implementation of these different schemes by  the companies and by the Indonesian government.
- Advocacy in synergy: Through training and advocacy actions KSBSI and SBMI involved 10.850 migrant workers and politicians (of which 12% women and 8% young people) in their efforts to explain the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Act (Law 2017/n°18) and to negotiate the implementation of local regulations for migrant workers. Village- or district-level regulations were adopted in two provinces (Lampung and West-Kalimantan).

Partner organizations in Indonesia: K-SBSI (trade union confederation), GARTEKS (garment union federation), SBMI (migrant workers’ union), Indonesia Synergy network
Budget 2018 : 125.000 euro
Donors: DGD, ACV-CSC BIE, LBC-NVK
Programme: 2017-2021

Improvements in 2018 for the new Indonesian Social Security

2018 saw the further implementation of the reformed National Social Security System and the expansion of the social security coverage, including the health insurance. At multiple moments KSBSI invited officials from the Health Insurance Body and the Social Security Body to discuss the various difficulties with the implementation of the different schemes, such as the contributions to be paid by employers and by workers. Nevertheless there were some breakthroughs:

• hospitals are now obliged to accept any patient and to ask for reimbursement for the expenses from the Health Insurance Body rather than from the patients themselves. 
• The policy on ‘Coordination of Benefits’ between the public social security and private company schemes has been clarified now.

Indonesian migrant workers get access to the regular social security schemes
The new Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Law for which the partner organisations advocated came into effect in November 2018. This law gives more and better protection to Indonesian migrant workers going abroad to work, mainly by making placement, recruitment and protection of migrant workers a responsibility of the state. A new regulation stipulates that migrant workers can have access now to the regular work accident scheme, the death insurance and to old age insurance (a kind of retirement savings). The actions of KSBSI and SBMI in 2018 focused on the dissemination of the new law to the migrant workers and on the negotiation of and advocacy for village level and district level regulations,  needed to execute the law.

Negotiating wages in Indonesia

South Sumatra is one of the regions where the development of KSBSI is quite strong, with 5 federations who have a total of 15.210 members. The monthly provincial minimum wage in South Sumatra in 2018 was 2.600.000 Rupiah (± 165 euro) and increased to 2.800.000 Rupiah ((± 176 euro)  in January 2019. In Indonesia, the majority of workers receive wages that are composed of the provincial minimum wage and a fixed allowance. This means that there is no difference in wages between workers who have a work experience of less than one year and wages of workers who have a tenure of more than one year. To increase the income of workers in South Sumatra, KSBSI is very serious in advocating for increases in provincial minimum wages. With the existence of a wage scale structure, it is expected that there will be an increase in wages and there will be rewards for workers who work more than one year. This year there are 12 companies that have handed over the structure of the wage scale to the South Sumatra labour agency.

Mr. Ali Hanafiah was born in Palembang, on 8 July 1969. He graduated from STIH Sumpah Pemuda University in 2010. He is the regional coordinator of KSBSI in South Sumatra. Before he was the chairperson of KSBSI at plant level for 2 years and chairperson of the branch board of NIKEUBA (KSBSI’s service sector federation) for 12 years.  Currently he is a member of the provincial wage council and vice chairperson of the tripartite social dialogue at province level as a representative for the workers.

Political, economic and social context
In 2018 Indonesia’s economic growth tended to be stable at about 5%. Increasing religious sentiment, abused by Islamic fundamentalists, stirred up fears that conservative parties would claim victory in the regional elections, thus also influencing the national elections in April 2019. Identity and religious politics risk to divert attention from the agenda of economic development, prosperity and social welfare that is being promoted by the current Indonesian administration under President Joko Widodo. On 28 September an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu and Donggala in Central Sulawesi, killing 2.113 and injuring 4.612 people. Both KSBSI and SBMI provided immediate assistance to their members in the area and the families who became victim of the tsunami.

Minimum wages, wage scale structure and social security
Since presidential regulation 2015/n°78 was adopted, yearly minimum wages in Indonesia (set at provincial or district level) can only be increased by inflation and growth of gross domestic product. Based on those two criteria the growth of the provincial minimum wage for 2019 was fixed at 8,03%. While KSBSI is not in favour of Regulation 2015/78, as it prevents the trade unions from fully freely negotiating minimum wages such as foreseen by the ILO Minimum Wage Convention, it does not believe that in the current political constellation the regulation can be overturned in the short term. Currently KSBSI focuses in its training for local union leaders, activists and members on the implementation of the wage scale structure, as October 2017 was the deadline for companies to register their wage structure at the Labour Department. However, most Indonesian employers are still not aware about their obligation to determine a structure and scale of wages in the company taking into account the class, position, period of employment, education level and competence of the employees. Seen the limitations that have been imposed to the regular minimum wage negotiations, the trade unions see the wage scale structure regulation as a way to differentiate wages at company level, so that at least at plant level it will be possible to still negotiate higher wages. The workers should be informed of the wage scale structure in their company.

ANRSP attends the ASEAN People's Forum

The ANRSP, represented by Bismo and Ath Thorn (Cambodia Steering Committee Member), attended the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ ASEAN People Forum in Singapore from 2 till 4th of November 2018. ACSC/APF is a gathering of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Southeast Asia to engage with ASEAN on the issues affecting the region. ASEAN is composed out of 10 countries in South East Asia; Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The 10 states of ASEAN have very different political systems, which are reflected as well in their representatives attending the forum. After initially focusing on lobbying towards, due to the lack of response, ACSC/APF will mainly build an alternative model of regional integration and people’ solidarity across the Southeast Asia region. In Singapore, delegations were limited to maximum 200 peoples or 20 delegations per country -compared to a total of more than 1.000 people in the ACSC/APF Philippines in 2017, certain topics were considered ‘sensitive’ and there were no officials present from ASEAN or Singapore.

How to pay to extend social protection?

 ITUC, with FES and WSM brought together 140 participants from over 30 trade unions and civil society organisations in the world to look at ways to finance social protection 17-18 September in Brussels. Worldwide, social protection is increasingly recognised as a priority: by the ILO (with Recommendation 202 on social protection floors adopted in 2012), the EU, the World Bank, the IMF and even the G20. As a result, it features very prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals (1.3).

Gijs Justaert from the policy department of WSM: “Though the consensus on the need for social protection grows, the main question remains: how to achieve universal social protection in each country?”. Alison Tate, Director of Economic and Social Policy at ITUC feels that “extending social protection shouldn’t be seen by governments as an increased expense, as many do - in an environment of austerity, but as an investment that pays off in terms of better skills, greater equality and inclusive economic growth.”

Several international organisations (ILO, WB, IMF, EU and OECD) and development partners shared their views on the question of sustainable financing. Bruno Deceukelier, Asia Coordinator for WSM sees “a big difference in approach between some of them. The World Bank and IMF want to assist the extreme poor or crises affected population, whereas Social Protection with a right based approach would ensure universal coverage, which would also gather larger support from all citizens.” The FES Social Protection Index and other research shows that in the short term, 71 countries could achieve social protection floors for all by investing an extra 2% of GDP or less.

Sulistri, from KSBSI

“In South Asia, the informal workers still have to be reached and covered by the newly adopted social security schemes, because they represent over 80% of the population, as well as labour migrants, both in the sending or the destination countries”, says Umesh from GEFONT in Nepal. 

Sulistri, from KSBSI, and also Steering Committee member for Indonesia of the Asia Network on the Right to Social Protection (ANRSP) echoes this: “As a union we successfully pushed for the inclusion of workers from the informal economy in the law on social security, but it is complicated because the contributions come only from the workers, and have to be paid regularly; if not, they lose their benefits. This seminar looked at eight options to finance Social Protection, and, hopefully with the assistance from ITUC, we can analyse which are most appropriate for us in Indonesia.” 

Prit SoUot from CLC Cambodia, highlights existing gaps: “the NSSF only covers employment injury insurance for the enterprises employing at least 8 workers and that the Cambodian Government’s plan to extend social insurance for disabled, unemployed and retirement needs to be closely monitored.”

Francisca Altagracia Jimenez
AMUSSOL-CASC

Francisca Altagracia Jimenez from AMUSSOL-CASC explained their efforts to cover the informal workers in the Dominican Republic, which wasn’t an evident choice for trade unions, but which has allowed them to increase their membership. “Today, more than 60.000 informal economy workers, 40% of them women, enjoy health care, employment injury insurance and an old age pension.” 

But social protection is not only for the workers, and Drissa Soare from CNTB, Burkina Faso highlights the importance of working together with other actors of civil society, like health cooperatives to help ensure the access to health: “with the support of WSM, we have been working together in a multi-stakeholder network to lobby for better legislation and extend the services and coverage to their members.”

 Drissa Soare from CNTB, Burkina Faso and Alison Tate, ITUC

In short, as Alison Tate, Director of Economic and Social Policy of ITUC says: “Promoting Social protection is part of the core business of trade unions, as it links directly to the fight against inequality.” This seminar allowed trade unionists and civil society representatives from Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe to share experiences and good practices. Several of them highlighted the need to work together in strategic alliances to address the huge challenges that remain.  Something WSM and its partners already do within their network on the right to social protection. Something ITUC, FES, WSM and several other civil society organisations do within the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors.

In short, the conference was an excellent opportunity for WSM and its partners to increase their visibility and highlight some of their work, not only to other trade unions, but also to stakeholders like the ILO, potential donors and partners which could support our rights-based approach to promote the right to social protection for all around the world.

ITUC Launches Migrant Worker “Recruitment Adviser” Platform

ITUC Launches Migrant Worker “Recruitment Adviser” Platform

Since many of the members of the Asian Network on the Right to Social Protection, are actively involved in the support for labor migrants' rights, I thought it could be interesting to share this message from ITUC on the launch of the 'Recruitment Adviser'.

Brussels, 4 April 2018 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC has launched a new web platform to help protect migrant workers from abusive employment practices, by providing them with peer-to-peer reviews about recruitment agencies in their country of origin and destination.

The Recruitment Advisor, developed by the ITUC with support from the ILO Fair Recruitment initiative”, lists thousands of agencies in Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries.

The platform allows workers to comment on their experiences, rate the recruitment agencies and learn about their rights. Initially available in English, Indonesian, Nepali and Tagalog, it will be further developed in more languages.

Governments provided the list of licensed agencies and a network of trade unions and civil society organizations in all target countries, ensures the sustainability of the platform by reaching out to workers and speaking to them about their rights.

Public and private recruitment agencies, when appropriately regulated, play an important role in the efficient and equitable functioning of both the migration process and labour markets in countries of destination, by matching the right workers with specific labour needs and labour markets, as well as creating invaluable skills assets for countries and communities of origin when workers return home.

Ultimately Recruitment Advisor will promote recruiters who follow a fair recruitment process based on ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and will provide useful feedback to Governments regarding the practices of licensed recruitment agencies, which could be used to complement more traditional monitoring systems.

Recruitment is a critical stage when migrant workers are more vulnerable to abuse. “Unscrupulous recruitment agencies take advantage of the lack of law enforcement by governments or because workers are simply not aware of their rights”, says ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow. “It’s time to put power back into workers’ hands to rate the recruitment agencies and show whether their promises of jobs and wages are delivered.”

“This platform can help migrant workers make critical choices at the time of planning their journey to work in a foreign country. We know that when a worker is recruited fairly the risk of ending in forced labour is drastically reduced,” says ILO technical specialist Alix Nasri. “We strongly encourage workers to share their experiences so others can learn from them. A critical mass of review is needed for the platform to be really helpful for migrants.”

“An organized workforce cannot be enslaved, but when there is a governance failure and no law enforcement, then slavery can flourish. Together we will stop unscrupulous recruitment practices, we will eliminate slavery in the supply chains and we will end modern slavery”, said Burrow.

The ITUC represents 207 million members of 331 affiliates in 163 countries and territories.

Follow us on the web: http://www.ituc-csi.org and http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 03 52 or mail to: press@ituc-csi.org

Indonesia’s reviewed law on labour migration

On Thursday October 12, ANRSP members KSBSI and SBMI jointly organized a workshop on Indonesia’s reviewed law on labour migration. The current legislation, Bill nr 39/2004, has been in effect for 13 years and its revision is in the last stages. Without obstacles it will be approved in parliament on October 28 this year. Generally speaking, both KSBSI and SBMI think some amendments to the decree are positive, others require a critical look and still other elements are not sufficiently taken up in the reviewed of the bill.

The new amended Bill will focuses on the protection of migrant workers. For example, Indonesia will no  longer send migrant workers to countries oversees who didn’t sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian Government. Also the sanctions by law for offenders will be strengthened. The possibility to combine jail-time and financial sanctions will make the sanctions more applicable in practice.

The reviewed bill also shifts the migrant workers’ social protection. Instead of a separate social security mechanism (private, for profit), migrant workers now have to join the universal, non-profit, State owned social protection body called BPJS. According to KSBSI and SBMI, as such this is a positive evolution. However, the new social protection body cannot cover all risks the former system covered (for example repatriation, sexual harassment, etc). Furthermore not all possible social protection schemes are being made compulsory for migrant workers.  KSBSI and SBMI state that all social protection schemes should be made compulsory for migrant workers. This means the government should not see migrant workers as informal workers. To cover the other risks, it might be more feasible to solve this problem in the short term by bringing the responsibility for very specific migration related risks (like repatriation) to the ministry of foreign affairs. Widening the possible schemes within the BPJS, might prove to be a much more challenging approach in the short term.

Unfortunately many questions remain on the actual implementation.  The role of government institutions increases, but who is going to monitor what will happen in the bureaucracy?  For example: how will it be guaranteed that migrant workers don’t have to pay for their recruitment themselves? So there should be an independent monitoring body that can not only mediate, but that can also sanction effectively.  KSBSI and SBMI also know that offences are happening right at the recruitment phase, even before migrant workers leave the country. So legal aid should be provided by the government even in the pre-process stage.

Another gap is the important phase of the recruitment and the placing of Migrant workers.  Unfortunately the bill doesn’t tackle this issue well. Another derivative regulations on placing will be needed.

Indonesia synergy focuses on young workers and political action

The WSM partners in Indonesia KSBSI and SBMI working on labour migration choose young workers and political action as the areas they wanted to improve in.

For political action, they dream their synergy is able to influence the government in making labour migration policy and socialize it towards members and officials, especially at local level. In short term, they expect to see:

• Socialisation in four regions for 100 members of KSBSI and SBMI
• In three regions, meeting with local level authorities to explain legislation and adapt similar regulation at local level.
• Synergy drafts a proposal of local level regulations and ministerial decree at national level

On mid-term, they would like to see:

• Local level regulations are adopted and implemented in four provinces.
• Ministerial decree is adopted with operational details about recruitment agencies (criteria, responsibilities, fees)
• Synergy to influence the government during MoU for bilateral agreements regarding protection of migrant labourers

And in long term, the participants would love to see:

• Bilateral agreements between Indonesia and receiving countries hold provisions for migrant labourers passport held by labourers, legal assistance from embassies, freedom of association is respected, one day holiday/week, able to communicate with family.
• Government regulates and manages the placing of migrant labourers

Regarding the young workers, they hope the synergy contributes to young workers to be professional, responsible and independent. They expect to see in the short term:

• 100 young workers members are made aware of labour migration regulation
• Maintain or increase the involvement of young workers in synergy through leadership training, targetting them specifically in invitations for meetings or training, use of social media.
• Targetting students at universities and colleges before departure or employment to join trade union.

They would like to see the SBMI-KSBSI membership of young workers increases by 300 through the synergy activities. On long term, participants would love to see that through the synergy, 80% of these new members are aware of their rights and able to defend themselves.

As this was their first time using the WSM approach to capacity strengthening, participants greatly appreciated the session and the way it helped them evaluate their work and plan for the future.

2014-2016 impact: Illustration labour rights: migration

Labour migration largely occurs under temporary migration regimes and for less skilled work. Migrants often fill jobs unattractive to nationals, the infamous three Ds: Dirty, Dangerous and Demeaning. Examples of this are the Nepali and Indian migrants travelling to Gulf countries like Qatar to work as domestic or construction workers. Migrant workers make an enormous development contribution to the region’s economies – through skills, labour, services and competitiveness in countries of destination; and financial remittances, skills and knowledge upon return to their countries of origin. In destination countries many migrant workers fill labour market niches by doing jobs that nationals do not want or cannot fill. Yet many migrant workers in the region are subject to labour exploitation and abuse during recruitment and employment. Several of the WSM partners focus on organizing and defending labour migrants rights.