Jakarta – Labour union held a protest in front of Hexindo Adiperkasa Ltd. Plc., Pulo Kambing St. Industrial District Pulo Gadung, on Sunday, July 19th 2020. This protest exposed manpower problems in Hitachi Construction Machinery Indonesia Ltd. The problem initiated with interns whom have been employed as full time employees.
“Interns work for overtime and shift. This is a violation of Article 19 Clause 19 (1) letter c, d and e Bekasi District’s Local Government Regulation Number 4 of 2016 on Manpower,” strike F-SEDAR representative in their position statement.
Furthermore, Hitachi Construction Machinery Indonesia Ltd. was also late to register the internship contract to the government institution that responsible for it, which is the Bekasi District’s Municipal Representative of the Manpower Ministry (Disnaker). According to Article 18 clause (3) and (4) Bekasi District’s Local Government Regulation Number 4 of 2016, this delay was a strict violation.
For this, the workers created a labour union as workers representative board called Serikat Pejuang Kesejahteraan Buruh PT Hitachi Construction Machinery Indonesia (SPKB PT HCMI). But in the dawn of their assembly, 28 of their managers and members’ contracts have been terminated unilaterally.
F-SEDAR president, Saiful Anam, express his disappointment of Hitachi’s disobedient of Manpower Regulations, especially Local Government Regulation on Manpower.
“Once, HCMI Ltd. applied for a judicial review to Supreme Court, but lost. The company should know better, because they already know and fluent of this regulation,” stated Saiful.
Especially, HCM Corp. has a relatively satisfactory ethical code on their commitment to adhere to human rights laws. You can access their ethical code in this link: https://www.hitachicm.com/global/corporate/conduct/.
- We will promote our understanding of internationally recognized human rights, and will respect and not infringe on the human rights of all those involved in our business activities.
- We will implement human rights due diligence appropriate to the social circumstances of the countries and regions where we have operations and the nature of our businesses, products, and services there.
- We will assess and prevent potential violations of human rights. In the event of such a violation, we will promptly take internal and external actions to correct and remedy the situation.
- We will respect individual human rights in the recruitment and treatment of employees and during all other company activities. We will not engage in any acts that may impair individual dignity or discriminate on bases such as sex, sexual orientation, age, nationality, race, ethnicity, ideology, belief, religion, social status, family origin, disease, disability.
- We will hire employees in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations in each country and region, and in accordance with international norms and standards. We will not use child labor that employs children below the minimum working age or forced labor that is against the will of employees.
- We will strive to resolve issues through sincere and constructive discussion between management and employees, in compliance with the laws, regulations, and labor practices of each country and region, and in accordance with international norms and standards.
“If we take a look at this code of conduct, it is clear that HCM has a due diligence already, but the implementation in the field, especially in Indonesia, is big zero. Just a front!” said Saiful.
The union are just wants to ensure Hitachi’s commitment on the implementation of internship regulations, because otherwise, the violation of it will brings grave consequences. For example, this will decrease the chance of workers to be promoted as permanent employees. Since then, the workers have had three Written Recommendations from Municipal Representative of the Manpower Ministry (Disnaker): Recommendation Number 565/2152/Disnaker Dated May 15th 2020, Recommendation Number 565/2568/Disnaker Dated June 29th 2020 and Recommendation No. 565/2566/Disnaker Dated June 29th 2020.
These written recommendations advised the company to change the intern contracts, from internship agreement to Unfixed Term Employment Contract (PKWTT). And this form of contract advises to be enforced since the beginning, when the interns/workers begin their first day of work in Hitachi Construction Machinery Indonesia Ltd.
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