UNAIR NEWS – President of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) Ir. H. Said Iqbal, M.E. was invited as a speaker in the Labor Day Webinar held on Monday afternoon, May 2, 2021. He emphasized the importance of solidarity in the labor movement in order to achieve a labor party with a rigid power base. However, at the same event, the explanation was denied by UNAIR Labor Law expert. Dr. M. Hadi Shubhan, S.H, M.H, C.N, who emphasized that advocacy for labor rights does not require a labor party.
In his research, Hadi explained that there was a decreasing participation in labor unions. This is because the elites in the labor unions are starting to have their own political interests.
“So how is it related with the labor party? If we use logics, labor party needs strong labor unions but the popularity of the labor unions is decreasing, the irrelevance becomes more apparent and the workers will leave the labor party. The essence of the party itself is to do politics, ” stressed the Director of Student Affairs UNAIR.
Hadi said that basically, the interests of the workers were more or less the same. Therefore, advocacy for workers’ rights is actually sufficient through strengthening and unifying labor unions. Reflecting on history, the UNAIR alumnus explained that an extraordinary result has been realized when Indonesian workers unite without being polarized by certain political views. It is about the succesful Law no. 40 of 2004 concerning the National Social Security System (SJSN Law) and Law no. 24 of 2011 on Social Security Administering Bodies (BPJS Law).
“In my opinion, why the Employment Cluster of Job Creation Law was successful even though it is controversial, one of the factors is the lack of cohesiveness of the labor movement to fight for their rights. This is due to the certain political practices and missions among the elites, ”explained the expert.
Seeing this trend, Hadi proposes a solution that the advocacy of workers’ aspirations should be amplified by strengthening the performance of worker unions / labor unions (SP / SB). Like focusing light with a magnifying glass that can burn something, Hadi said that the SP / SB function focusing can provide more massive resonance and effectiveness.
Reflecting on Law no. 13 of 2003 concerning Ketenagakerjaan (Labor Law), various functions, rights and obligations of labor unions have been regulated. Hadi said that only unions can negotiate with companies to make Collective Labor Agreements (PKB). For this reason, focusing on the performance of the SP / SB is needed because the scale reaches the internal company.
“Looking at the data, the number of PKB and Company Regulations (PP) in Indonesia is still very small compared to the number of companies in Indonesia. In my opinion, this is one proof that the performance of labor unions is still not optimal. In fact, the requirements for making SP / SB have been greatly simplified. Therefore, I conclude that purity in advocating for the aspirations of workers is necessary in fulfilling workers’ rights. It can be achieved by revitalizing labor unions, not creating a labor party,” he concluded.
Author: Pradnya Wicaksana
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
