Domestic workers stage a rally in front of the House of Representatives complex, demanding the House endorse a long-awaited bill on protecting their rights, as seen in this file photo from 2016. - The Jakarta Post File
JAKARTA: Labour rights organisations have urged the House of Representatives to kick start the deliberation of the domestic worker protection bill before the end of its tenure in October, fearing that the long awaited piece of legislation will face a significant setback if lawmakers fail to do so.
Dozens of activists and domestic workers grouped under the National Advocacy Network for Domestic Workers (Jala PRT) staged a rally in front of the House complex in Jakarta on Sunday (June 16) to mark International Domestic Workers Day and urged lawmakers to expedite the deliberation process.
"We hope that lawmakers can finally start the deliberation process of the bill that we have been awaiting for 20 years and which is desperately needed by 5 million domestic workers in the country," Lita Anggraini of Jala PRT said.
Mutiara Ika Pratiwi of women's rights group Perempuan Mahardhika who participated in the rally said that with only a few months left of their tenure, lawmakers could not afford to delay the deliberation of the domestic workers bill any longer.
"Now is a very crucial time for its deliberation because we will soon have a new government and lawmakers in office.
"So it's very important that current House members pass the bill as soon as possible," she said.
A similar demand was also voiced by government-sanctioned independent agency the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), which said the bill was desperately needed to improve the poor working conditions of millions of domestic workers across the archipelago.
"A lot of domestic workers continue to work under poor conditions, facing threats of violence, harassment and even slavery.
"It's the state’s responsibility to ensure that their constitutional rights as workers are protected," Komnas Perempuan commissioner Tiasri Wiandani said in a discussion on Friday.
Tiasri said that the current House members should at least discuss one article in the domestic worker protection bill before their terms ended to ensure that the bill deliberation could be carried over to incoming lawmakers.
"If the current lawmakers fail to do that, new lawmakers have to restart the legislative process for the bill from scratch again," she said.
Poor conditions
Domestic workers, which include all household employees such as cooks, cleaners, babysitters, caregivers, gardeners and security guards, currently do not enjoy any legal protection because Indonesia’s labor laws do not regard them as formal workers.
They typically work long hours for a pittance and often do not receive full weekends or holiday bonuses.
Many endure physical and emotional abuse, and there is little recourse for them under prevailing labor laws.
Jala PRT recorded at least 3,308 cases of violence against domestic workers between 2021 and 2024.
Earlier this month, a 16-year-old domestic worker in Tangerang, Banten, died after jumping from a third-story house where she worked, allegedly because she wanted to run away from her abusive employer.
In February, five domestic workers in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, two of whom were minors, were injured after they climbed a 2 meter barbed-wire fence while trying to escape their employer's house.
They allegedly were forced to work without any payment, held captive, starved and tortured by their employer.
The domestic worker protection bill seeks to ensure that household workers are legally protected in their jobs, including from such abuse.
The bill says that domestic workers and employers must enter into a contract in writing to set out terms and conditions, including salary and benefits, working hours, rest days and holidays, health care and insurance, and education and training.
The bill also sets the minimum age of workers at 18.
Dragging feet
The bill was first proposed by Jala PRT in 2004 and has since been on and off the table at the House despite repeated calls and hunger strikes by domestic workers seeking to have the bill passed.
Observers say the House’s lack of political will to pass the bill into law is because lawmakers are aware that many, if not most, domestic employers are not interested in raising the wages of their workers and providing them with more benefits.
The bill finally made a breakthrough early last year at the House, when lawmakers agreed to start formal discussion with the government after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo publicly appealed to lawmakers to hasten its deliberation.
But there has not been any progress on the bill since then, even as the government continues to push for the passing of the bill.
Luluk Hamida of the National Awakening Party (PKB), a member of the House Legislation Body (Baleg), which prepared the early draft of the bill in 2020, said that its sluggish deliberation stemmed from the fact that the House leadership had never really included the bill in its legislative agenda despite the bill having secured endorsement from the Baleg.
At the time at the Baleg, seven parties supported the bill while the two biggest parties, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party, opposed it.
"It's a shame that [the House leadership] doesn't have the political will to finish the deliberation of the bill.
"Maybe they think that it is not very urgent to pass the bill into law or they deem the bill a threat to the status quo," Luluk said on Friday.
A House deputy speaker was not immediately available for comment. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
