President of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) Said Iqbal denied any layoffs (PHK) that occurred in the textile and textile product (TPT) industry sector. His party has studied the facts that occurred regarding the news of layoffs that occurred to tens of thousands of workers in the sector. As a result, KSPI members from the sector admitted that it was not true that there were layoffs. "It is not true [there have been layoffs], the Labor Party and KSPI have studied the facts, it is not true that there have been layoffs of more than 45,000 workers in the textile, garment and shoe sector," he said at a press conference, Wednesday (2/11/2022).

Said Iqbal also confirmed that his party had conducted an examination of KSPI members, namely the National Workers Union (SPN) which is engaged in the textile, garment, and shoe or footwear industries.

Likewise with the news of layoffs that occurred in the automotive sector. In fact, Said Iqbal said, as many as 70 percent of automotive worker unions who are members of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI) stated that it was not true that there were layoffs.

“There are no layoffs in the automotive industry, FSPMI, there are no layoffs. I have checked the SPN of KSPI members who are engaged in textiles, garments, and shoes, there are no layoffs, which [PHK] do you mean?” he said.

For this reason, Said Iqbal asked the government not to haunt the public with the issue of recession so as to encourage layoffs in the labor-intensive sector.

"Thus, we ask the relevant ministers not to scare the people and become provocateurs for the 2023 dark economy and there will be a global recession that will hit Indonesia," he continued.

Along with the global economic slowdown, weakening purchasing power in Europe and America also weakened Indonesian textile export sales and other textile producing countries such as China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India.

From the business side, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa said that with this weakening, Indonesia's competitor countries are trying to dominate the Indonesian market.

This situation has really made the national textile industry squeezed between the decline in export demand and the eroded domestic market.

"This disruption has resulted in a sharp decline in the utilization of the textile industry, which has an impact on reducing working hours and eventually layoffs," he said, Thursday (27/10/2022).

Jemmy admitted that the average decline in demand is up to 30 percent for the export market.

Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Hariyadi B. Sukamdani also said that the global economic turmoil had begun to reduce orders for Indonesian shoes to traditional partner countries by up to 50 percent for 2023 deliveries.

Not only shoes, he said orders for textile products or garments next year will also decline by 30%.

“Now there is an impact, the export of our destination has experienced a weakening economy, the United States, the European Union have decreased. Today I was reported to have dropped 50% of orders for the shoe sector, 30% for garments," he said in Jakarta, Thursday (20/10/2022).

Meanwhile, departing from these conditions, the President of the Confederation of Archipelago Trade Unions (KSPN) Ristadi clearly stated that he had received reports from members who worked at the Sritex Group textile company regarding layoffs.

"Reports from our members, companies affiliated with the Sritex Group, thousands of people have been laid off at this time. Our members from Tyfountex in Sukoharjo, Central Java, approximately 8,000 have been laid off," he said, Wednesday (2/11/2022).

In addition, KSPN members who work in textile companies in West Java such as PT KH Group also reported layoffs due to the expiration of the contract period and not being extended.