Workers' Health in the Labor Day Epic

The roar of the Job Creation Law four years ago was unable to overcome demands for strengthening the article on protecting workers' health.

KOMPAS/HERYUNANTO

Illustration

Labor Day is not just about fighting for workers' wages. When thousands of workers took to the streets of Chicago during the Haymarket Affair in 1886, the most striking demand was for more humane working hours, referring to the right to work eight hours a day, not the urgency of remuneration.

The labor movement in Indonesia is analogous to the adventure of global labor ideology. Starting from the founding of Sarekat Islam in 1912 and the massive proliferation of trade unions, the essence of the struggle was oriented towards clarity of working hours, increased welfare and freedom of association.

Looking at the inspiration of workers' struggle for humane working hours, universal regulations based on eight working hours per day and 40 working hours per week have become a topic that is often researched in a multidisciplinary manner, especially from the aspect of occupational medicine. A number of meta-analysis studies prove that the benefits of working during this time period are related to excellent productivity, favorable health outcomes, and low work accidents.

Looking at their contribution to economic growth, Indonesian workers should actually walk with their heads held high.

In fact, through Bengtsson and Molinder's in-depth study published in the Scandinavian Economic History Review (2016), the humane working hours policy resulting from the workers' struggle has proven to be beneficial for the quality of workers' health and has a positive impact on investment stability and sustainability. country's economy.

Movement evolution

However, in reality, as a humanistic movement, the labor movement (labour movement) also evolved dynamically. The Impetus regarding the regulation of working hours, translation of wages and compensation, and job security in the early days of the movement shifted to a more holistic proposition including the quality of life of workers, personal and family health security, and the mental health paradigm.

By examining the scientific studies of historian David Montgomery and his team on the industrial transformation in the United States (US), the rise of the modern economic system has also strengthened demands for compensation packages for workers that no longer focus solely on wages and working hours. In the US, the labor movement has grown in the realm of advocating for safe working conditions, anti-exploitation and discrimination, and comprehensive health protection that has led to the narrative of workers' mental health.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Workers enjoy their lunch at a street vendor's stall located outside the factory area in the Karawaci district of Tangerang City, Banten on Wednesday (22/11/2023).

The snowball effect of the labor movement stimulated many European countries to regulate dual ownership of worker insurance, both through non-private work systems run by the government and private insurance managed by corporations. In Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Affairs (Kōsei-rōdō-shō) was strengthened to become an institution that plays a dominant role in supervising occupational health and safety, even actively preventing the phenomenon of karoshi or work fatigue that is common in "Sakura Country".

As a result, demands for wages have become a standard of living, while health insurance, skills and competency improvement, and pension guarantees are selected as parameters for collective workers' welfare. All of these are claimed to be forms of victory for labor movements in developed countries, which unfortunately have not become a general practice that can be proud of in Indonesia!

Loose regulation

A literature review in The Indonesian Journal of Community and Occupational Medicine (2022) concluded that the status of occupational health and safety (K3) in Indonesia is generally not satisfactory. A search of a number of scientific manuscripts in this journal confirms that one of the main challenges is weak law enforcement regarding incidents of K3 violations.

Also read: One ​​Decade, the Trend of Increasing Minimum Wages for Workers Continues to Decline

Objective indicators include data from BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (2023), which recorded 370,747 cases of work accidents in various industrial sectors. This figure is categorized as very high compared to other third world countries with similar industrial characteristics.

The fundamental principles in the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, which serve as the foundation for protecting the health of Indonesian workers, leave many fractures that are not in line with the spirit of the labor movement.

The main legal umbrella, namely Law Number 1 of 1970 concerning Occupational Safety, has yet to be revised even though many experts consider the supervisory and sanction articles to be irrelevant and different from the international labor movement's spirit.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

A number of workers carrying elderly people wait for users of their services at Beringharjo Market, Yogyakarta, Monday (1/1/2024).

Not to mention the aspect of collective employment agreements which, according to the Indonesia Network of OSH Professionals, tend to favor the owners of capital and result in low bargaining power for employees in demanding protection guarantees from work-related illnesses.

The uproar over the Job Creation Law four years ago was not able to accommodate demands for strengthening provisions on worker health protection. Instead of providing protection, workers are feared to be more vulnerable to unilateral termination of employment and exploitation of working hours. It is truly a loose regulation without a deterrent effect!

It's a different story when it comes to mitigating work-related illnesses. Cases of exposure to heavy metals and hazardous substances that have long-term health effects are believed to be resolved with claims from BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. However, blindness, deafness, and metabolic disorders occur due to weak critical control point analysis of workplace hazards that are not accurately implemented.

Superficially, it could be said that workers in Indonesia are still unable to join in the celebration of the gifts of the global workers' struggle.

Superficially, Indonesian workers can be said to have not yet been able to join the celebration of global labor struggle awards. Instead, they need to unite and gather support from academia, practitioners, and labor activists to fight together in filling gaps in regulations to be health and safety-friendly at work.

Indeed, the improvement of the occupational health and safety system in the homeland is not an easy matter. Economic and political policies regarding employment are also not a flexible process that can quickly produce results. However, there is at least a chance for tactical health interventions that workers can enjoy, such as affordable and available health facilities and services in the workplace.

The Occupational Medicine Study Program at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (FKUI), identifies the strategic role of technical resources in the field of Occupational Health and Safety (K3) which has the potential to reduce some of the risks of accidents and worker health disturbances in Indonesia.

Occupational doctor

The global consensus of the International Labor Organization proves that the promotion and education of occupational safety and health (K3) in the workplace under the supervision of competent medical personnel significantly ensures the best health and safety status of workers while guaranteeing the implementation of production operations.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Workers transport sacks of rice that have just arrived at the Cipinang Rice Main Market, East Jakarta, Monday (23/8/2023).

Statistically, the presence of trained K3 medical personnel, especially occupational doctors or company doctors accredited in occupational medicine, improves the health and performance of workers up to four times.

Longitudinal research in Japan, England and Sweden published in the Journal of Occupational Health (2000) proves that the role of occupational doctors in the manufacturing sector is able to reduce the number of work accidents, reduce health costs related to occupational diseases, and is positively correlated on worker performance.

From this aspect, it is important to advocate for company management and workplace owners to have occupational health doctors to design and implement occupational health and safety programs in the company. The clinical reference is valid and the health economic analysis is substantive. At FKUI, the locus of occupational health education institutions has been established for over 40 years.

The presence of occupational physicians in the workplace is also part of the spirit of the labor movement demanding rational support towards the meaning of healthy work. For companies, occupational doctors are an investment that ensures worker productivity, not financing!

Also read: Labors, Drivers of Industries that are Increasingly Marginalized

The productivity maze

Looking at their contribution to economic growth, Indonesian workers should actually walk with their heads up. The employment sector, according to BPS data, contributes 60 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product. However, in fact, their minimum wage base is pressured to produce a monthly take home pay (net salary received), based on calculations according to the output of the production unit.

The measure of labor performance in the homeland is very real, but also trapping. They are like navigating a labyrinth of productivity with mandatory workloads that must drive the country's economy, while being conditioned like attractive mannequins for foreign investment. The risk of accidents and occupational diseases seems to be a coherent part of the identity of laborers.

On the occasion of Labor Day 2024, we have the opportunity to reset the essence of the real labor movement's struggle, which is about demanding a productive, innovative, humanistic, equal and mandatory work balance that promotes prosperity.

The Labor Day epic should present workers as the main actors who should benefit capital owners even without subordinating health, safety and workers' welfare, always advancing the nation without tending to inferiority of the working class.

Happy labours day!

Ray Wagiu Basrowi, FKUI Occupational/Community Medicine Researcher and Lecturer, Chair of the Health Collaborative Center (HCC)