The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) says 2021 may be a grim year for workers across the Indonesian archipelago as the multidimensional crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over and the Job Creation Law remains in force.

KSPI president Said Iqbal told a virtual press conference on December 28: “The Covid-19 pandemic has multiple effects on workers across the nation. It will be hard to improve workers’ conditions unless the [transmission] curve is flattened.”

He said KSPI members were among workers infected and killed by Covid-19, although he did not elaborate on the figure.

“New confirmed cases, the fatality rate and the transmission rate among workers have been on an increasing trend, in a similar fashion to the national Covid-19 curve,” he said, alleging that lax health protocol enforcement at factories was the main reason.

Said expressed pessimism over the economic outlook for 2021, arguing that the recession would continue into next year despite claims from Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto that the nation’s economy had started to pick up.

Airlangga recently said the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine would buoy the public’s confidence and sense of security, which should lead them to restart economic activities.

The minister also claimed that the country had managed to control the economic impact of the pandemic better than other Group of 20 (G20) countries.

“Contrary to the minister’s claims, reports from our members suggest that demand continues to plummet in various sectors, causing factories to reduce their production. We are pessimistic that the economy will improve next year,” he said.

Said expressed concern that the situation could lead to massive layoffs next year, as companies would seek to cut their losses amid the economic slump.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK