2,000 offshore workers underpaid, uncertified
Friday, June 8 2007 - 02:59 AM WIB
The Indonesian Seafarers Association (KPI) has urged the government to set core labor standards in the mining sector to help protect more than 2,000 uncertified, underpaid workers on offshore oil and gas exploration sites across the archipelago, The Jakarta Post reported Friday.
“The Transportation Ministry and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry should set core labor standards in the mining sector and certify all Indonesian workers employed on offshore rigs and vessels to ensure their health, safety, security and payment according to the international standards set by the Offshore Professional Inspection and Training Organization (OPITO),” KPI chairman Hanafie Rustandi said during a discussion here Thursday.
He said many local workers recruited by foreign mining companies to work on offshore mining sites have been replaced by expatriates without the government’s consent because they lacked internationally and OPITO-recognized certificates guaranteeing their competence.
“Some of the workers have remained employed but are paid far below the international standards,” he said.
Indonesians working on the Langsa offshore rig are paid between Rp 3 million (US$280) and Rp 12 million ($1,000) per month, he said, while certified expatriates of similar competence are paid between $1,800 and $6,200.
He said the overall competence of Indonesian workers was similar to that of their foreign colleagues, but that they have little workplace protection because their proficiency is not certified.
Hanafie, also coordinator of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in , said the government has moved too slowly in anticipating trends in the global economy such as the liberalization of trade, particularly in the services sector, and regional free trade.
He said should learn from and , which have implemented core labor standards in their respective mining sectors in cooperation with OPITO.
The ITF and OPITO have also carried out training programs for Australian, Timor Leste and Indonesian workers employed on offshore mining sites in the Timor Gap in order to certify their competence and have them paid in accordance with international standards.
Meanwhile, National Standardization and Certification Agency chief Mudjiman said some local workers employed in the mining sector, both at home and overseas, do have internationally recognized competence-based certificates.
He said the private sector, especially major mining companies, has an obligation to improve the competence of local workers, to in turn increase their productivity and elevate their overall social welfare.
“Such an obligation should be inserted in their work contract and the government should not extend the work contract of mining and gas companies failing to standardize their local workers’ competence. The recruitment of expatriates will not solve the problem,” he said. (*)