Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to abolish the outsourcing system has received a positive response from trade unions.
The President of the All Indonesia Workers Union Association (Aspirasi), Mirah Sumirat, stated that the outsourcing mechanism has violated human rights because it places workers in a weak and uncertain position.
“Outsourcing was initially limited to only five types of jobs such as cleaning services and security, but since the Job Creation Law, this practice can be applied in almost all sectors. This causes many problems for workers,” said Mirah.
Mirah explained that in practice, outsourcing workers often receive unfair treatment, such as salaries below the provisions, no social security, and difficulty in forming labor unions.
In fact, there are workers who have to pay up to IDR 25 million just to be able to enter an outsourcing company.
According to Mirah, this system is also vulnerable to abuse, because it involves irresponsible parties, including certain officials and union leaders who have their own outsourcing companies.
However, Mirah acknowledged that there are a number of outsourcing companies that comply with laws and regulations and pay attention to workers’ rights.
“They provide decent wages, social security, and freedom of association. But the numbers are very small,” he said.
If complete elimination is deemed difficult, he proposed that outsourcing practices be limited to only three types of work, namely catering, cleaning services and mining.
In addition, he asked the government to guarantee certainty of work status, wages, and social security for outsourcing workers.
Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives for People’s Welfare, Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, welcomed President Prabowo’s steps.
He called this policy good news for workers who have not had job security due to the outsourcing system.
“This is a breath of fresh air for all the nation’s children, especially the workers. We hope that there will be a meeting between the government and entrepreneurs so that this policy runs well,” said Cucun.
He also appreciated the President’s plan to establish a Workers’ Welfare Council as a real effort to improve workers’ standard of living.
Meanwhile, Minister of Manpower, Yassierli, acknowledged that outsourcing practices cause many problems.
“The President asked that this be examined, removed, and reviewed by the Workers’ Welfare Council,” he said.***
