18 October, 2013The Women's Committee of IndustriALL Indonesian Council, took action on 7 October to mark the World Day for Decent Work
Following the Indonesian meeting, on 22 September, of the IndustriALL council where a Women’s Committee was created, the participants took the opportunity to plan their activity on 7 October to go to the Ministry of Manpower with a delegation of 100 women and demand decent work and to demand that more attention be paid to women's issues.
The Women Committee of IndustriALL Indonesian Council, took action on 7 October to mark the World Day for Decent Work. Together they marched to the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration in Jakarta.
Around 100 women workers from IndustriALL affiliates joined the rally. Their main demands were to:
- stop the precarious work, as the women workers are the most affected
- stop discrimination on maternity issues
- stop discrimination on health insurance and family allowances
- urge the Indonesian government to ratify the ILO Convention No 183 on Maternity Protection.
Precarious work continues to be the main challenge to unions in Indonesia. One of the most crucial issues with that is maternity protection, because as a rule precarious workers have no maternity protection, maternity leave or maternity pay. Women cannot get married and keep their job if they are contract workers, and if they get pregnant, their contract is cancelled.