TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Said Iqbal, Head of the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Union (KSPI) urged the government to strictly monitor Chinese investors.
"We urge the government to prevent Chinese investors to bring in unskilled laborers and to protect upstream companies who have long been operating in Indonesia," Iqbal said during the fifth Congress and National Meeting (Munas) of Indonesian Metal Workers Federation (FSPMI) in Surabaya on Monday, February 8, 2016.
Iqbal said that new Chinese investors have brought thousands of unskilled laborers to Indonesia, whereas for other foreign companies who have long been established in Indonesia had never enjoyed easy requirements to bring in foreign workers.
Apart from disrupting investment climate, the increasing number of Chinese laborers has also sparked negative sentiment on Indonesia's economy. Moreover, Indonesia has entered the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). "It could endanger local laborers. We reject [foreign] unskilled workers," Iqbal said.
Iqbal also dismissed the accusation of high wages as the main reason for investors to leave Indonesia. For example, as Iqbal stated, Japan electronic giant company PT Toshiba recently conducted massive layoffs for a different reason: the people's declining pruchasing power which has caused electronics sales to decline significantly.
Therefore, Iqbal urged the government to immediately revoke Government Regulation No. 78/2015 on Wages. "The decline in purchasing power has been triggered by low wages. So, we urged the government to revoke the Government Regulation, give laborers decent wages to improve people’s purchasing power," Iqbal said.
ARTIKA RACHMI FARMITA
