Beware of Demonstrations Ridden by Provocateurs, Job Creation Law Proven to Protect Workers

Elements of society are asked to always be wary of calls for demonstrations by a handful of labor elements demonstrating on July 3 2024 led by the President of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI), Said Iqbal. Apart from being prone to being used by provocateurs, workers’ demands, one of which is rejecting the Job Creation Law, are considered irrelevant because the regulation has been proven to protect workers.

Labor demonstrations, although legally valid, often cause significant disruption to daily life. Moreover, if there are certain parties who actually invite and spread provocation regarding rejection of the Job Creation Law, this will clearly be something that is counterproductive because in fact this set of regulations has proven to be committed to protecting all workers.

The government has carried out various efforts to protect workers or employees very optimally, one of which is by ratifying the Job Creation Law which is a strong commitment to provide guarantees and a legal umbrella for workers.

This attempt at provocation from a number of completely irresponsible parties followed a demonstration or demonstration on Wednesday, July 3 2024. They responded to the termination of employment relations (PHK) and the rejection of the Job Creation Law.

This is an action that is very irrelevant and counterproductive because they actually reject the existence of government policies that guarantee and provide them with maximum protection.

Expert Staff for Employment Economics at the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker), Aris Wahyudi, revealed that the existence of the Job Creation Law aims to provide protection and certainty in legal aspects to workers or laborers.

Thus, when workers have a strong legal umbrella through the existence of the Job Creation Law, it will be very beneficial and will also give them certainty in proving that when, for example, there is a dispute with the company where they work.

Apart from that, the existence of this set of rules also requires that companies in implementing any type of agreement must first be based on an agreement between two parties, namely the company and the worker concerned.

Furthermore, the government also strictly limits companies from acting arbitrarily with their workers, namely by requiring agreements that do not conflict with public order, morality and also the laws and regulations in force in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

Basically, the government, through the Job Creation Law, really wants the creation of an employment relationship that is based on an agreement between both parties, namely companies and their workers.

However, for example, one day, one of the parties chooses not to agree and not continue their employment relationship, then in this set of regulations, the government requires companies to provide protection for workers, namely in the form of severance pay and so on.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Directorate General of PHI and Social Security of the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower, Surya Lukita, said that the issuance of the Job Creation Law by the government was basically useful for providing protection and being able to fulfill all the rights of workers.

There were 3 main aspects in the drafting of the Job Creation Law from the start, namely the first was related to the protection of people who had difficulty finding employment.

The second aspect, namely that the government, through the Job Creation Law, is trying to improve protection for workers by continuing to clearly state all the rights of workers. Next, the third is that the government provides protection to workers who experience layoffs through a social security scheme.

On the other hand, the Head of the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI), Benny Rhamdani, very firmly stated that the Job Creation Law really protects workers without exception, including migrant workers in the country.

The Job Creation Law does not reduce even the slightest protection for workers, including migrant workers in Indonesia. In fact, the government continues to pay very serious attention to their protection and it is very clear that they will be protected from head to toe.

Recently, textile companies in Indonesia have massively laid off their employees. However, the government has actually protected all their rights through the Job Creation Law.

All very clear legal protection or protection for workers, especially those affected by the layoff policy of the company where they work, is contained in the Job Creation Law.

There are 3 rights that companies are obliged to fulfill to their workers or employees if they want to terminate their employment relationship. The first is that companies must fulfill their rights in the form of severance pay to their workers who have been laid off, then provide long service reward money (UPMK), and also money to replace the rights they should have received.

The government has also regulated the amount of the rights granted in the form of these three amounts of money very clearly through legal umbrellas and protections for workers in the Job Creation Law, as well as the length of work that these employees undertake.

Thus, the entire community should be wary of any invitation from anyone to hold a demonstration, because in reality it only has the potential to be exploited by irresponsible parties. Moreover, they are actually demonstrating policies that are very pro-workers, such as the Job Creation Law.