Objectives

The workshop is the country level follow-up forum of the Eighth Regional Tripartite Industrial Relations (IR) Seminar, held in Hoi-An, Vietnam in November 2017. Taking into consideration the regional seminar forum’s theme, the workshop will discuss “The Future of Industrial Relations Amidst Changing Forms of Employment & Industry Transformations in Indonesia”. The full day program will have three main sessions which covers:

1. sharing the highlights & key messages taken from the regional forum;
2. discussions with resource persons on the changing forms of employment and the future of industrial forum; and
3. group discussions to deliberate on key issues, and to be concluded with the plenary session.

The insights and conclusion derived from the workshop will then serve as the main input in developing a White Paper / Position Paper reflecting the views of the tripartite constituents with regards to the future of industrial relation. Specific objectives for the seminar include:

• To share the highlights and key content from the 8th Regional Tripartite Seminar on IR;
• To showcase and raise awareness on possible sustainable and responsible business practices in response to changing forms of employment, which enterprises in Indonesia can implement;
• To explore alternative approaches in aligning the policy and mechanism in order to support harmonious IR within enterprises, industry, and national level;
• To discuss the perspectives of each tripartite constituent and their recommended pathways to shape the future of industrial relations and adherence to decent work; and
• To convene key partners and stakeholders and engage them to promote these practices & approaches to industry.

Background

Among the different business mandates, industrial relations emerge as one of the key components within enterprise transformation. With the premise that good relationship will enable productivity increase and accelerate the transition process within any strategic changes required by industries; sound industrial relations open new opportunities for enterprises to respond to challenges, deliver value while maximizing technology and financial resources which, sometimes, could be the key constraints.

However, in the middle of rapid change within business and social environment - one of them driven by technological transformation, the changing forms of employment is inevitable and thus call for revitalisation within industrial policies and practices all over the world including within ASEAN region. Against these phenomena, it is important that each key stakeholder recognizes the risks for displacement of the workforce due to the advancement of disruptive technology, as well as the opportunities to generate new skills and occupations that meet the demand for future of work. It is crucial that existing policy instruments and reform measures are aligned to the realities of evolving jobs and technologies and considerations be provided in promoting social dialogue and rights-based approach to sound industrial relations.

Given the aforementioned background, The International Labour Organization (ILO) as the tripartite U.N. agency who brings together governments, employers and workers to promote decent work for all, delivered the Eighth Regional Seminar on Industrial Relations from 8 to 9 November 2017 in Hoi An, Viet Nam. The chosen theme for the seminar was “Promoting sound industrial relations through social dialogue and implications of changing forms of employment for industrial relations in the ASEAN region”. It was aimed in understanding the role of effective social dialogue in promoting and dealing with the labour market consequences, including discussions on issues concerning industrial relations and employment.

During this regional seminar, the following key themes, of: (1) ILO policy recommendation and its advocacy, (2) international and regional good practices through social dialogue, (3) country experiences in industrial relations and (4) implications of changing forms of employment, were taken up. The seminar generated discussions on the developments and experiences of ASEAN Member States to promote sound industrial relations through social dialogue, particularly in the context of changing forms of work.

InSIGHT Project would like to continue with a follow-up initiative, a national level workshop to be held in Indonesia. This forum aims to socialize key messages and discussions taken up from the regional seminar to the broader tripartite constituents and localize its relevance to the Indonesian context. More importantly, it is also aimed to provide a discussion forum, where tripartite representative can elaborate and foster fruitful insight on how to respond to the changing of human resource requirements and align policy making with respect to the business environment change within workplace, industry, and national level. This, in turn, will contribute to promoting sound industrial relations, and accommodate the interests from each towards a consensus on pursuing sustainable development.