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Act on Cooperation clearly stated that cooperation has a role and function to improve the quality of its member s lives and the people in general. Can outsourcing make it happen?

Muhammad Hatta, the Father of Indonesian Cooperation, when he delivered his speech on the third Cooperation Day on July 11, 1954 said, “The one who takes advantage from the separation of the cooperation will be its opposition, capitalist companies…” In other words, since the beginning Hatta had put cooperation in a vis-à-vis position with the capitalist companies.

If only Hatta were still alive at the moment, he could be sorry to see the practices and development of cooperation. Until now, the cooperation tended to join hand with the capitalist companies he mentioned about.

Cooperation, Hatta considered to be based on familiarity principle, is formed as the reflection of collectivity principle in a people-based economic system. This makes the difference between cooperation and the capitalist companies. The capitalist companies stressed on individualistic principle and of course stacking capital to the maximum.

The fact is that a number of cooperation have been pulled out from the basic concept that Hatta proposed. The collectivity principle was considered second, the capital stock was put forward. At least that is the portrait of the cooperation working in the outsourcing field that grows fast recently.

As an example, hukumonline noted some cooperation working in manpower providing service. Let us call Koperasi Wahana Usaha Jabodetabek – a cooperation formed by employees of Indonesian Railway Company in Jakarta and surrounding- which once became an outsource agent in Indonesian Railways Company.

Or for instance the cooperation of Pertamina Central Hospital Employee that once had an agreement for outsourcing with the Hospital. The hottest one will be the cooperation of Jakarta Outer Ring Road Toll Road Employee that provides outsourced workers for the position of toll gate officers. It is possible that this kind of cooperation are still scattered out there.

There were many cooperations working in the manpower assigning field not without grounds. Article 65 paragraph (3) of Act on Manpower stated that companies which are allowed to hold outsourcing are companies with legal status. In Indonesia, legal status covers Limited Company, Foundation and Cooperation. Because of that, normatively, it is alright for cooperation to hold outsourcing program.

The decree of Manpower Minister No. 101/2004 on the Permission Procedure for Workers Providing Company, explains in detail things about what legal bodies have the right to be an outsource agent, they are Limited Company and Cooperation. Foundation is not mentioned in the decree because foundation is not provided room for making profit.

Philosophy of Cooperation

The existence of legal ground of the Act on manpower and the decree could be one of the reasons for the growth of cooperation working in the worker providing field. It means, in one side Cooperation indeed has a legal ground. The question is that whether or not cooperation philosophically deserves to be the outsourcing agency.

Coalition of NGOs for Cooperation Movement in Position Paper of Cooperation Draft Bill exclaimed that basically Cooperation was not aimed at gaining maximum profit. Instead, it served general needs and the participation place for minor scaled economic practitioners.

Herni Sri Nurbayanti, cooperation observer from Indonesian Law and Policy Study, Center explained that there had to be a strict line to differentiate cooperation from a company. “A company generally stresses on capital stocking only (capital based), meanwhile cooperation is more to community based. Therefore, cooperation is eventually aimed at serving its members.” She said, Wednesday (27/8).

In practice, continued Herni, there were many mistake made by the cooperation starting from the forming that was not according to the basic concept of cooperation until the changing of service and aim orientation of the cooperation itself.

“Cooperation should be formed by its members based on shared interests and aims, not based on other things like shared professions. For example, the cooperation of Indonesian Military. The point is forming cooperation has to be bottom up and not top down system,” reminded Herni who was also involved in NGOs Coalition for Cooperation Movement.

Herni’s statement was supported by Arif Witjaksana. Lecturer of Company law from Trisakti University revealed that cooperation is a commercial institution formed by its members, seen from the aim, Cooperation is formed to improve the welfare of its members.

Relevant with outsourcing?

Normatively, the function and role of Cooperation is quite majestic. Article 4 Act No.25/1992 about Cooperation said that cooperation functions and has a role to increase its members’ economic ability and the people in general to increase their economic and social welfare. Besides that, still in the same article, Cooperation also actively plays a role in increasing the quality of people’s and society’s life.

In the implementation ground, the noble role and function seems unable to be realized by cooperation that works in outsourcing field. The practices show that outsourcing gives more burdens to labors.

In the middle of low income and the threat of being given the sack, labor’s life becomes more uncertain with the outsourcing system. Outsourcing labors finally only hang their life in the mercy of the company they are working at. Not to mention the captivity of their rights to unite.

Odie Hudiyanto, General Secretary of Independent Workers Federation concluded that outsourcing could never provide a working security and the fulfillment of workers’ normative rights. “Then, has the cooperation that turns as outsourcing agency played its role to increase people’s welfare and life quality as regulated in the Act on Cooperation?” claimed Odie, Wednesday (27/8).

Arif Witjaksana agreed with Odie. He said that if it was true that outsourcing practices only made a decrease in people’s quality of life, and then cooperation did not deserve to work on that field. “It still needs to be proven empirically that outsourcing is a system that does not support the improvement of people’s quality of life,” he added, Saturday (23/8).

This is so threatening of the outsourcing ‘ghost’ – added by the working contract system – made the workers in the country always remember to put the issue of those two working system in every demonstration. They were struggling to death to ask the government to erase the two working systems. Not only through the demonstration, but the demand to erase outsourcing and working contract system once came to the Constitutional Court. Unfortunately, at that time only two Constitutional Justice, Abdul Mukhtie Fadjar and Laica Marzuki, agreed to say that outsourcing and working contract was against the constitution. As the result, the petition for the judicial review on Act on Manpower only partly granted.

Odie Hudiyanto was planning to take another legal effort. “If we have a well-planned analysis and strong data, why don’t we make a judicial review on Minister of Manpower Decree No.101? So, while refusing outsourcing, we take another effort to narrow the room for outsourcing where cooperation can no longer act as an outsourcing agent.”

The effort to question the legal body regulation that allows the outsourcing was supported by Arif Witjaksana. “If it is true that outsourcing not equal to the basic values as manifested in Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, then I think it is not only the legal body of the cooperation but also the limited company.”

Yogo Pamungkas, lecturer of Manpower Law from Trisakti University had a different opinion. He said that the outsourcing system at the moment was unavoidable. To anticipate working protection security for workers, he expected that every outsourcing agency to implement PKWTT alias fixed worker status to the workers to be outsourced. “Besides that, it is also possible to implement a minimum salary for outsourcing worker which is higher than the common workers’ salary. Consequently, the matter of welfare of the outsourcing workers can be overcome,” said Yogo by phone, Saturday (23/8).

Apart from it all, Odie still reminded workers union to go back to basic principle, which was the solidarity power. When the workers union was strong, said Odie, then the existence of outsourcing can be overcome through the framework agreement. “the strength of workers union had been proven in several hotels where finally in the agreement there were no longer outsourced workers,” he added.

“...If the Cooperation falls down, the people’s welfare side falls also,” that was part of the closing in Muhammad Hatta’s speech.(IHW)

Source www.hukumonline.com (28/08/08)

Photo Courtesy of Constitutional Court Public Relation Doc.

 

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