The Job Creation Law That Actually Makes Workers Reluctant To Work

The ratification of the Job Creation Perppu becomes a law in a plenary meeting of members of the DPR RI on March 21, 2023. (DPR RI/Runi/Man)

JAKARTA - Ratification of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation (Perppu Cipta Kerja) into the Job Creation Law in a plenary meeting of the DPR RI on March 21, 2023, continues to receive opposition.

The Labor Party together with labor union organizations, farmers' unions, and other working-class companies threatened to carry out a national strike which was attended by 5 million workers from 100 thousand factories throughout Indonesia.

"We are preparing 5 days to stop production. The workers will leave the factory, some will go to the palace and the DPR, some will go to the government office, and some will be in front of the factory gates. Because Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, we plan to do it in July-August later," Said said at an online Labor Party press conference on March 21, 2023.

The labor unions will also continue to protest every week to the DPR RI Building demanding that legislative members cancel or revise the Job Creation Law.

"In the near future, we will submit a judicial review to the Constitutional Court. We will invite 2 other parties who reject the Job Creation Law as witnesses. If they don't want to, it means that the rejection is just a service lip," continued Said.

Currently, Said claims to have asked for support from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) regarding the issue of the Job Creation Law.

"A few days ago I met with the Director General and Director of Asia Pacific ILO in Geneva. The ITUC that I heard was also ready to support by holding protests in all embassies in each country," said Said, who is also the President of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions.

According to him, the Job Creation Law is too focused on investors' interests, but sacrifices the rights and welfare of workers in Indonesia. Examples regarding the minimum wage.

There is a certain index clause in Article 88D paragraph 2 of the Job Creation Perppu which is considered to be smoothing low wages. There is also a new article, namely Article 88F which allows the government to set a minimum wage formula different from what was regulated in the previous Job Creation Law.

Then, regarding power transfer alias outsourced as stated in Article 64, the company can hand over some of the work to other companies through a written transfer of power agreement.

The labor market is considered to be more flexible by emphasizing the provisions regarding outsourced power. Labor unions are worried that the use of power transfer will be allowed in all types of jobs because the restrictions will only be set through government regulations.

"Likewise, severance pay is much smaller and there is no certainty about wages for female workers who are on maternity or menstruation," added Said.

Since it was still in the form of a draft Law (RUU) in 2020, long before the Perppu was issued, the omnibus law on Job Creation had caused great resistance. Some people think that it makes it too easy for foreign investors to enter Indonesia. It endangers the political economy, especially the field of employment, natural resource governance, and the environment.

Even though foreign investment, said senior economist Ichsanuddin Noorsy, opens up opportunities for foreign intervention or interference with various state policies on something.

Also pave the way for foreigners to infiltrate, infiltrate through policies and people, intimidation with academic indicators, invasion, and inflation.

A simple logic, is there a country or the private sector that wants to provide something of great value without being full of anything? No lunch is free.

Even so, members of the legislature still ratified the bill into the Job Creation Law on October 5, 2020. President Jokowi later officially made it Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation (UU Cipta Kerja) on November 2, 2020.

Two weeks later, the constitutional judge granted part of the formal review request and declared the Job Creation Act conditionally unconstitutional. Gives 2 years for improvement.

If within a period of 2 years the legislators cannot complete the revision of the Job Creation Law, then the law or articles or material content of the law that has been revoked or amended by the Job Creation Law is declared valid again.

However, on December 30, 2022, the government will issue a Job Creation Perppu. The government still believes that the existence of the Job Creation Law will bring great benefits to Indonesia's economic growth. Encourage investment, accelerate economic transformation, harmonize central policies, make business easier, overcome overlapping regulatory problems, and to eliminate sectoral egos.

The job capital is expected to be able to absorb Indonesia's workforce as widely as possible in the midst of increasingly competitive competition and demands of economic globalization as well as global economic challenges and crises that can disrupt the national economy, as written in the opening of the Job Creation Perppu.