Agency workers: same work – same pay

GERMANY/INDONESIA: At last count 388 actions in 92 countries took place for the World Day for Decent Work. IMF affiliates IG Metall and Federasi Serikat Pekerja Metal Indonesia (FSPMI) held a special bi-lateral week of workshops supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Jakarta on the issue of agency work from October 3 to 9, 2010 in the Jakarta area, East.Java and the Export Processing Zone in Batam.

Fighting against precarious work, IG Metall has been campaigning for the protection of agency workers under the motto "Equal work – equal pay" and in a campaign on "Together for a good life" focusing among other topics on young workers.

In Indonesia, FSPMI has also been very active on combating the rise of precarious employment and is now preparing itself for the revision of laws on agency workers. Having gathered a lot of experience on dealing with agency work, Manfred Menningen, an IG Metall expert on the subject, went to Indonesia to support the FSPMI campaign and exchange information.

During the week of meetings and workshops the IG Metall outlined the current situation in Germany regarding agency and contract work and the related labour laws. IG Metall also reported on its strategies at:

• plant level – works agreements about agency work between company and employer
• union level – collective bargaining agreements that tackle agency work such as the recent steel industry agreement
• political level – including political campaigns and actions such as the Equal work – equal pay campaign

The situation in both countries was compared during a strategy workshop aimed at identifying steps for FSPMI to tackle the issue pending the revision of agency worker laws in Indonesia. IG Metall pledged its support to the union and will continue to stay in touch and plan further joint activities in 2011.

Prior to the workshop, a study was done on the issue of agency work in Indonesia, published on the IMF website here. The study found that:

  

• There exist different interpretations of the legal texts. But there are also direct violations of the laws and the regulations regarding agency and contract work.
• The effect on the situation of the employees is negative and there is fragmentation, discrimination and exploitation among these workers.
• One thing that makes all this possible is the lacking control of the implementation of the current law by the authorities which is, among other things, a result of the decentralization process in Indonesia.
• The current practice of agency and contract work also implies a violation of ILO conventions 87, 98 and 111.

For a full round up of union action on and around October 7 in 2010 against the rise of precarious work and for good jobs and social protection that lay the foundations for sustainable growth go to the World Day for Decent Work website at: http://www.wddw.org/