By: Muhammad Ridho)*
The labor strike which will be held on 6-10 December 2021 will disrupt the national economic recovery, especially to overcome the impact of Corona. The reason is because the wheels of the economy can stall due to the cessation of production in many factories.
At the end of 2021, workers were in turmoil because they refused to increase the UMP (Provincial Minimum Wage) in 2022 which was considered very small. To make their wish come true, they demonstrated last month and then followed up with a mass strike this month. Even the threat, a strike will be carried out nationally.
Actually, demonstrations and strikes after the announcement of a minimum wage increase are commonplace, but are considered extraordinary during a pandemic. The reason is, if there is a labor strike it can disrupt the national economic recovery. Even though the government is intensively stabilizing the country’s finances to overcome the impact of the pandemic, the workers are actually blocking it.
Sofjan Wanandi, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Employers’ Association, stated that a labor strike could disrupt the national economy because it hinders investment. In a sense, foreign investors can read news about workers’ strikes in newspapers and then think again, should they invest in Indonesia while the workers are always aggressive in asking for an increase in wages?
When investors fail to enter Indonesia, many will lose money, including the workers themselves. This is because foreign investment funds can be used as fuel to restore the national economy. The reason is because the government does not want to increase debt for additional capital for economic recovery because it can burden the people in the future.
If many investors invest in Indonesia, there will be many positive things. In the future, there will be many projects that can reduce unemployment and improve the state’s financial condition. When Indonesia’s financial condition is healthy, there is no inflation and the price of goods is stable.
However, if, on the other hand, investors are reluctant to invest foreign capital, they will lose a golden opportunity. Currently, to attract investors’ attention, it is still volatile because during the pandemic many people are holding back their money. However, there are those who want to invest in Indonesia because they think the situation is conducive and the market is large, and it should not be canceled because of the threat of a strike.
In fact, entrepreneurs, including foreign nationals, are orderly and obey the rules from the government. Workers’ salaries must be given in accordance with the provincial minimum wage. Even though it is still a difficult time, employers are trying to give their salaries in full, not deducted due to the pandemic.
However, when workers continue to act and threaten work strikes, they cannot be invited to unite in overcoming the impact of the pandemic by working hard together. As a result, production at the factory was stopped, because the strike was carried out for several days. In fact, if production stops for just one day, the losses will be huge.
When the company continues to lose money, the workers are actually being harmed. The reason is because the financial condition is in a minus and finally the budget is tightened. There are 2 worst possibilities, cutting employee salaries or retiring early. So the workers who lose because of the 2 options are equally uncomfortable.
Therefore, just stop the strike because it will be self-defeating. The workers should be able to think for a long time, it’s still better to have a salary increase even if it’s only 1%, rather than not at all, or even the threat of a pay cut. Be grateful for the wages received because of the fact that salaries always increase every year, and learn to be frugal.
If there is a strike, don’t be angry when the officers are dismissed, because they are carrying out their duties. During the pandemic, everyone is obliged to work together, including the workers, because both workers and bosses carry out a symbiotic mutualism aka need each other.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute