By: Gema Iva Kirana )*
All aspirations of workers and laborers have actually been accommodated in the Job Creation Law issued by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. Therefore, the public should be able to understand and know and distinguish between wrong and true information, so that it does not continue to spread and often cause misperceptions in the community. Regarding the issuance of this regulation, Deputy III of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) for the Economy, Edy Priyono stated that the entire process from the initial draft to the publication of the Job Creation Law itself was in fact all in accordance with public aspirations.
The issuance of a Government Regulation in lieu of a Job Creation Law (Perppu) into a Job Creation Law (UU) by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) and the People’s Representative Council (DPR RI) some time ago was actually a quick and appropriate response to be able to answer all challenges and opportunities for employment in Indonesia.
How could it not be, the article is that the Indonesian government itself has conducted many outreach and often open discussions to be able to capture aspirations and absorb voices of opinion from the public so that they can continue to make improvements to legal products regarding employment in Indonesia.
In fact, the process itself was carried out by the (Coordinating Minister) Ministry of Economic Affairs and also the Task Force for the Acceleration of Socialization of the Job Creation Law which was formed based on Presidential Decree (Kepres) 10 of 2021. At least, he noted that there had been as many as 14 events to gather aspirations and collect all opinion from members of the community.
Edy added, that included, in all efforts to capture community aspirations, voices from trade and labor unions regarding what really needed to be improved, both regarding the Job Creation Law itself and regarding the implementing regulations.
So in fact, if there is still an opinion that the issuance of the Job Creation Law which was carried out by the Government and the Indonesian Parliament was not accompanied by public consultation, then all of these accusations are clearly completely untrue.
Most recently, the President of the Labor Party, Said Iqbal also has plans to bring as many as 100 thousand workers to the State Palace, Jakarta. This action was carried out in the framework of commemorating May Day or Labor Day on May 1, 2023.
Some of the issues in commemorating May Day are demands to repeal the Omnibus Law on Job Creation, repeal the parliamentary threshold of 4% (percent), then pass the draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers, reject the Health Bill, agrarian reform and food sovereignty.
One concrete example of the existence of a collection of aspirations from workers in the enactment of the Job Creation Law is regarding the change in the formula from the minimum wage. Not only that, however, in this policy, the government has regulated the types of work that can use outsourcing and which cannot, so that companies cannot decide unilaterally. Of course all of these changes are a concrete manifestation of the results of aspiration screening.
Deputy III KSP for the Economy also emphasized that it is absolutely impossible for the Government to sacrifice the social welfare of workers and laborers in Indonesia. In fact, now the Government continues to think about 3 (three) matters regarding the employment aspect.
The first is the unemployed workforce, therefore the Government continues to make efforts to provide broad employment opportunities because it is also able to improve the investment climate in Indonesia. The existence of job creation is also one of the main objectives of the Job Creation Law.
Then the second is that the Government continues to think about the fate of people who are currently working, then other attention is also directed to people who are no longer working. For this reason, there is a job loss guarantee, which is also clearly and firmly regulated in the Job Creation Law.
Meanwhile, KSP’s Main Expert, Fadjar Dwi Wisnuwardhani, very emphatically denied any notion that it seemed as if the issuance of the Job Creation Law only represented the interests of one party, namely employers. On the contrary, with the ratification of this legal product, it stands in the interests of all parties, including workers and MSME actors.
According to him, the existence of the Job Creation Law is able to synchronize all existing regulations, including simplifying bureaucratic processes so that it can encourage the creation of expanded job opportunities and the economy as a whole. He considered that this goal did not only represent one element, but stood above the interests of all elements of Indonesian society.
The Job Creation Law itself, according to Fadjar, has accommodated the absorption of people’s aspirations and provided explanations or information to the public to avoid misperceptions in society. After all, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has always looked at the interests of the state, people’s welfare and business continuity. The efforts of the President in prioritizing investment also aim to maintain the sustainability of the country.
There is also a growing misperception in society regarding the rule of one day off work a week. Even though the regulation regarding the duration of the working day itself has not changed at all and it is determined that the working time is 7 hours a day valid for 6 working days a week or 8 hours a day for 5 working days a week.
Therefore, in fact the legal product that has been ratified by the Government of Indonesia and the DPR, namely the Job Creation Law, actually regulates and accommodates all the aspirations of every element of society in Indonesia including workers and laborers themselves in order to continue to improve their welfare.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada Institute
