The Japan International Labour Federation (JILAF) and the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (CITU) jointly held a labour-management relations seminar in Cisarua in the Bogor district of Indonesia on January 28–30 with the participation of 20 people. The seminar brought together executives of the industrial organizations belonging to the CITU and aimed to improve the skills of participants.
First of all, on behalf of the organizers, CITU Chairman Thamrin Mossie said, “Indonesia is preparing to revise legislation relating to the social security system, so this JILAF seminar is very meaningful for participants. In addition, I want participants to learn about the history of the Japanese labour movement and the present labour situation in Japan, put that knowledge to use in the activities of industrial organizations from now on, and fulfill a role as leaders.”
The labour-related lectures in the seminar covered such topics as the efforts of the Japanese labour movement, the productivity movement, the history and experience of Japan’s labour movement, and efforts toward legislative amendment of the social security system. Participants asked such questions as how Japan’s splintered national centers became unified into Rengo, the problem of the declining organization ratio in Japan, and the building of cooperation with management vis-à-vis the productivity movement.
In addition, since legislation relating to the social security system is expected to be revised in Indonesia, an expert on the corporate social security system and the person concerned who participates in tripartite consultations as the CITU’s representative were invited to the seminar as speakers. Participants then discussed how labour unions should deal with the revision of the social security system and formulated an action plan for the national center and industrial organizations.
Finally, after discussing and formulating an activity plan from now on, participants commented, among others, that they wanted to “put what has been learned in the seminar to use for improving labour conditions in Indonesia” and “convey Japan’s excellent labour-management relations to as many union members as possible and develop activities that contribute to social and economic development.”