Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Indonesia (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee takes note of the written and oral information supplied by the Government to the Conference Committee in June 1993 and the discussion which took place there.

The Committee recalls that its comments have for a number of years concerned the following points:

- the absence of specific legislative provisions accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions to protect workers against acts of anti-union discrimination at the time of recruitment or during the employment relationship (Article 1 of the Convention);

- the absence of sufficiently detailed legislative provisions to protect workers' organizations against acts of interference by employers or their organizations (Article 2);

- the restriction on free collective bargaining whereby only federations covering at least 20 provinces and grouping a large number of trade unions may conclude collective agreements (Article 4).

The Committee notes that a direct contacts mission took place in Indonesia (21-27 November 1993), upon request from the Government "in order to advise on better implementation of the Convention". The main recommendations of the mission are summarized below:

1. The labour legislation should be consolidated and simplified, with substantive rights embodied in a labour or industrial relations Act, leaving details of implementation and procedure to regulations, adopted by virtue of a power established in the relevant legislation.

2. Legislative measures should be taken to repeal the provisions, and in particular article 2 of Regulation PER-03/MEN/1993, which prevent workers from engaging voluntarily in collective bargaining and concluding collective labour agreements through freely chosen representatives.

3. Steps should be taken, in law and in fact, to guarantee workers effective protection against acts of anti-union discrimination, and acts of interference by employers, in particular by:

- consolidating and simplifying the existing provisions on the subject;

- adopting provisions to remedy evidentiary difficulties;

- strengthening the penalties provided for violations of anti-union discrimination and interference provisions;

- streamlining and strengthening the enforcement provisions; and

- taking measures to avoid, to the maximum extent, the involvement of police and armed forces in labour disputes and, more generally, in labour matters.

The mission also pointed out that the Office is ready and willing to provide technical assistance in all the matters mentioned above.

Noting from the report that the Government demonstrated throughout the mission a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with the ILO, the Committee strongly hopes that the Government will soon give positive consideration to these recommendations, which parallel to a large extent the observations and recommendations it has been making for several years. It reiterates the offer of technical assistance mentioned above.

The Committee also addresses a direct request to the Government on another issue.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 81st Session.]