Thousands rally to demand delay of ASEAN-China FTA
Jakarta Post | 7 January 2010
Thousands rally to demand delay of ASEAN-China FTA
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung
Thousands of workers from across West Java staged a rally in Bandung on Wednesday, demanding the implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement be postponed in Indonesia.
The protesters expressed fears that once the FTA came into effect it would trigger mass layoffs, as well as Indonesian products’ inability to compete on international markets.
“I’m afraid that forcing this [FTA] will lead to millions of workers being laid off because of the relatively higher prices of Indonesian goods compared to those from China,” said Baharudin Simbolon of the Association of Indonesian Labor Union’s West Java chapter, during the rally outside the governor’s office.
The protesters urged both the governor and provincial legislature to propose President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono postpone the FTA until the government reduced all unnecessary operational costs that had made it impossible for Indonesian products to compete in ASEAN markets.
“In terms of bank interest rates, for example, they’re up to 16 percent here, while in China they’re only between 4 and 6 percent. This excludes other unnecessary levies that further burden the business world domestically, making it difficult for us to compete,” he said.
However, Simbolon said he understood that the multilateral agreement could not be cancelled just because of the Indonesian government’s rush to sign it without considering or anticipating its negative impacts on the domestic market. For this reason, he said postponement was the best option.
Uye Guntara of the Association of Bandung Leather and Textile Workers, who has seen many workers being dismissed as a result of the global crisis, also said he feared potentially massive layoffs as a result of the implementation of the FTA.
“The global crisis has already impacted the textile industry. The ASEAN-China FTA is feared to make things worse,” Uye said.
Protesters in Tuesday’s rally came from various regions including Bandung, West Bandung, Cimahi, Sumedang, Bogor and Depok, forming a large crowd around the Sate Building complex that houses the governor’s office and the provincial legislature building.
Anticipating traffic congestion from the rally, police decided to temporarily close the street. They also deployed up to 2,000 personnel to secure the rally that was expected to mobilize up to 50,000 workers.
Carrying banners condemning the Cabinet for its failure to address economic problems properly, protesters took it in turns to make speeches on a car stage. Some of their banners read “Say No to Free Trade”, “Budiono Resign”, “Fire Sri Mulyani” and “Run Pro-People Programs”.
“We will enjoy poverty, collectively, if cheap Chinese products are allowed to enter Indonesia without tariffs. The government and neo-lib Cabinet have just taken sides with foreign interests,” Sumarna, a protester, said in his speech.
Separately, the deputy chairman of the Association of Indonesian Businesspeople (APINDO) West Java chapter, Deddy Wijaya, said there up to 40,000 workers would be laid off in just three months following the implementation of the ASEAN-China FTA, with up to 30 percent of the 8,000 members of the association facing bankruptcy.
“The biggest impacts will become visible in the second semester,” he said.
Many, including West Java Manpower Agency chief Mustopa Djamaludin, have expressed support for workers’ demands, and that they would send the central government a special recommendation to temporarily withdraw itself from the ASEAN-China FTA.
Mustopa said so far 40 companies in the province had proposed a postponement of the 2010 regional wage regulation, saying their businesses were not healthy. The same postponement was proposed by 87 companies last year.
“Although the number of companies proposing the postponement is less than it was last year, we still have to anticipate [future developments],” Mustopa said.
