Better Work Indonesia Business Forum 2016

Indonesia Business Forum took place on 6-7 September 2016 in Jakarta “The Business Forum is a key and annual event that presents the perfect opportunity to further develop approach and principles of consensus building and social dialogue with key actors in the supply chain,” said Michiko Miyamoto, the ILO’s Deputy Director for Indonesia in her opening remarks at the Better Work Indonesia Business Forum took place on 6 – 7 September 2016 in Jakarta.

Indonesian garment and footwear industry faces additional challenges such as annual increment wage of around 11 percent; strength of the Indonesian Rupiah to US Dollar and buyers’ pressure on pricing. In order to ensure the industry remains competitive, communication between the factories and the labour unions needs to be open and transparent."

Anne Patricia Susanto from the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo)

More than 20 buyers and vendors participated in the Forum. This year annual forum was open to wider participation by upstream players such as vendors to support innovative solutions to labour standards challenges in their global supply chains.

The event put specific focus on the upcoming features of the new Better Work such as Public Reporting. It also covered compliance challenges and opportunities as well as industrial relation issues. The second day of the forum was limited to Better Work partners. It provided opportunity to interact with national level trade unions, employers’ association and government representatives to discuss key issues affecting compliance and the garment and footwear sectors.

Evidence of a win-win outcome – improving working conditions while boosting profit margins – has to date largely been anecdotal. Tufts University’s impact assessment has made significant strides in establishing evidence of this relationship."

Professor Drusilla Brown, Lead Author of the Report

“Indonesian garment and footwear industry faces additional challenges such as annual increment wage of around 11 percent; strength of the Indonesian Rupiah to US Dollar and buyers’ pressure on pricing. In order to ensure the industry remains competitive, communication between the factories and the labour unions needs to be open and transparent,” stated Anne Patricia Susanto from the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) during the discussion.

Better Work Indonesia is one of the five country programmes independently reviewed by Tufts University for its effectiveness in improving garment workers’ lives and boosting factory competitiveness. The results of the Impact Assessment report shows that the Better Work Programme is having a significant and important impact on working conditions.

“Evidence of a win-win outcome – improving working conditions while boosting profit margins – has to date largely been anecdotal. Tufts University’s impact assessment has made significant strides in establishing evidence of this relationship,” said Professor Drusilla Brown, Lead Author of the Report

It is also clear that monitoring compliance matters and that social dialogue plays an important part in improving workers’ outcomes. Main highlights, in terms of impact, include:

• Greater job stability for workers, with the proportion of workers who say they hold longer term contracts doubling
• Increased awareness by workers of their rights and willingness to take serious concerns to trade unions.
• Reduced prevalence of verbal abuse.
• Measurable effects in take-home pay.
• Improved pre-natal care.