October 8, 2021
Mr. Joko Widodo, President, Republic of Indonesia
Constitutional Court of Indonesia
West Medan Merdeka Street no. 6, Central Jakarta 10110
Indonesia
House of Representatives of Indonesia
Gatot Subroto Street, Senayan, Jakarta 10270
Indonesia
CC: Embassy of Indonesia in Canada
Dear President,
Dear Honourable members of the Constitutional Court,
Dear Honourable members of the House of Representatives,
We write this letter to you on behalf of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE-SEPB), to express serious concerns about the Omnibus Law on Job Creation because it leads to greater labour flexibility at the expense of fundamental labour rights.
Our global union IndustriALL, at its third congress with the participation of 3,000 participants from 434 organizations and coming from 111 countries on 14-15 September 2021, adopted unanimously a resolution, which calls for the cancellation of Omnibus Law 11/2020. The full text of the resolution is available at this link.
The resolution refers to the following crucial elements in this law to be rejected:
- Elimination of sectoral minimum wage (UMSK and eliminate minimum wage regional (UMK);
- Excessive use and expansion of precarious work, particularly outsourcing, for lifetime without future;
- Significant changes to fixed-term employment contracts, outsourcing, hours of work, and the termination of employment procedure;
- Nominal of the severance pay is reduced;
- Layoffs or dismissal are made easier since there is no longer need for negotiations between bipartite employers and workers;
- Wages of women workers on leave and maternity are not paid;
- Working hours are exploitative, i.e. management unilaterally regulates without negotiation;
- Low wages with the application of hourly wages, which will only be 60-70% of the minimum wage.
In its current form, this law is in clear violation of international standards on human and labour rights as well as against the interests of Indonesian people and workers.
Therefore, we call on the President, Constitutional Court and House of Representatives of Indonesia to use your executive, judicial, and legislative powers to cancel the Omnibus Law on Job Creation.
We anticipate your prompt reply and action.
Yours sincerely,
David Black,
President, COPE-SEPB