GOVT, ENTREPRENEURS, WORKERS SIGN TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT

Jakarta, March 26 (ANTARA) - The government, entrepreneurs and
workers in the retail trade, communications and information sectors have signed a tripartite agreement to overcome various obstacles that could arise in the three areas.

The agreement was signed here Friday by representatives of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the Association of Indonesian Trade Unions (Aspek Indonesia), the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association (Apindo), said Mohammed Hakim, president of ASPEK Indonesia.

The tripartite agreement which has become a global issue and related to the world employment, also involved the Global Union, and UI Zensen, a kind of retail sector workers' association in Japan.

Hakim said, the Geneva agreement reached in December 2008 was the background of the tripartite regarding the plan of technological transfer of the retail sector.

The tripartite followed a proposal forwarded by the International Retail Businessmen Association about Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID).

The tripartite also came up following the impact of the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA), and Asian-China Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Other matter is the unpreparedness of the Indonesian human resources in handling technological transfer as an impact of implementation of the trade agreements, he disclosed.

"The threat which might happen in the future, among others, the possibility of large scale layoffs, the raise of unemployment rate, and the labor market competitiveness between the local and foreign workers," he cited.

As a solution to overcome such constraints in the future,
it is needed to hold a tripartite social dialogue between three parties, to hold the social dialogue campaign, social security, and raise the competence of the service sector workers.

The Indonesian workers should be able to compete, and jointly
resolve the problem properly, so that the industrial relations between employers and worker could be comfortable, Hakim noted.

Meanwhile, the Apindo general chairman, Sofyan Wanandi said that the retail sector, communications and information services sector is the fastest growing.

He welcomed all forms of dialogue between the three parties so that the workers and companies can develop in accordance with the set targets.

Wanandi, however, urged the government to create a policy to reduce the high cost of economy, build infrastructure, including to lower interest rates.

"How can we compete with China's products, with its more efficient of production cost and low interest rate," said Wanandi.

In the meantime, Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Global Union, Philips Jennings said, the employment problem is a big issue, not only in Indonesia, but in every country as well.

But labor problems in Indonesia is very different from that in other countries in line with the democratic transformation that is going on here.

Thus, the Indonesian government should place the human and social dimensions in its manpower affairs rules, he said.

In addition, President Director of Perum LKBN Antara or the National Antara News Agency, Dr. Mukhlis Yusuf, who was recommended to receive the GFA press award said, the labor problem became one of the obstacles often faced by the mass media currently.

So, self-actualization and competence improvement of the journalists and media staff support is an absolute thing, adding that his company's management is relatively open to allow an information access to its employees union including discussing about the company's budget planning.