Politician Saleh Partaonan Daulay said the government should stop the arrival of foreign workers from China. If their arrival is accepted, he said, it will trigger public questions.
"People still question the public whether to use regular planes, charter planes, or private planes. This is because people hope that the arrival of foreign workers from China will be stopped first. If the pandemic has passed, then think about it again," said Saleh.
According to Saleh, existing jobs should be prioritized for local residents.
"I am sure that Indonesian citizens can do it," said Saleh.
Saleh emphasized that the government should calculate the advantages and disadvantages of employing Chinese workers.
"At least, I have never read a report that they contributed to increasing the state budget. If the contribution is not significant, then just stop it temporarily, this is for the safety of the community. Moreover, recently the increase in the number of people exposed to Covid-19 is getting higher," said Saleh.
The Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions regrets the attitude of elite officials in Indonesia who are considered silent about the influx of hundreds of foreign workers during Lebaran using chartered planes.
KSPI President Said Iqbal said this favoritism hurt the sense of justice for Indonesian workers who could not go back to their hometowns to relieve their homesickness, even some workers had not received holiday allowances and tens of thousands of others had been sent home due to the pandemic.
"Foreign workers are receiving the red carpet again. Obviously, this seriously hurts the sense of justice of Indonesian workers," said Said Iqbal.
He assessed that the permission given by the elite officials for the presence of foreign workers during Lebaran shows an insensitive attitude, because at the same time the government prohibits its citizens from returning to their hometowns.
"The officials are missing the barbarity, which seems to only apply to the insulators at the city borders. Whereas the homecoming workers do not use chartered planes, but buy their own motorbike gasoline and eat when some of them have not paid the full THR money by the entrepreneur," said Said.
KSPI firmly rejects the arrival of foreign workers who become unskilled laborers in the construction, trade, steel, textiles, nickel mining and other industries, because these job positions can recruit local Indonesian workers.
The enactment of the ombibus law of the Job Creation Law makes foreign workers immune to the law because currently unskilled workers who enter Indonesia no longer need written permission from the minister, but enough from companies that use foreign labor services to report their planned arrival.
The arrival of foreign workers from China and India, said Said, emphasized the fact that the omnibus law facilitates the entry of foreign workers, which threatens local jobs.
"We urge the government to be fair, enforce the rules, and show its siding with the national interests of local workers, not foreign workers," he said.
