Settlement, dialogue and win-win solution were the one word used by most representatives of companies’ managements and workers when they were asked to describe the meaning of bipartite dispute settlement. The question asked marked the commencement of the one-day ILO’s workshop on bipartite dispute settlement at workplace on 2 November in Jakarta.



Attended by 70 representatives of management and workers from 24 companies, the workshop aimed to promote constructive industrial relations through complaint management and bipartite dispute settlement mechanisms. In her opening remarks, Lusiani Julia, ILO’s programme officer, emphasized the importance of trust building and bipartite dialogues at the company level.

“Bipartite dialogues that are conducted based on trust and respect are key in settling industrial disputes and in reaching harmonious industrial relations at workplace,” she said.

Highlighting the importance of dispute settlement at the enterprise level, Arun Kumar, ILO’s Specialist on Industrial Relations, stated that the collaborative industrial relations at the enterprise level plays an important role in tackling economic and social challenges, particularly during the crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. “This collaborative industrial relations need the culture of social dialogues, labour-management cooperation and effective dispute settlement,” he presented.

He also emphasized the importance of commitments from employers to respect principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining and from workers to respect employers’ final responsibilities to take decision. “Unresolved conflicts can increase labour costs. Therefore, it is important for companies to have an effective dispute settlement mechanism that is accessible, time-bound and based on the structure and size of the companies,” he added.

Responding to the ILO’s presentation about the importance of harmonious industrial relations at the enterprise level, Indonesia’s representatives of management and trade union—Darwoto, management of industrial area of MM2100 and R. Abdullah, Federation Chair of All Indonesian Trade Union (FSPKEP SPSI) agreed during the interactive discussion that both parties should have respect to one another and have a good understanding about each other’s rights and obligations in the overall production process.

“Indonesia’s culture of mutual consensus and assistance (musyawarah dan gotong royong) have become the foundation of harmonious industrial relations that are also relevant with the ILO Convention No. 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining,” said Abdullah; while Darwoto emphasized the principles of Indonesia’s Constitution of 1945 and Pancasila, the five principles underlying the state ideology.

The workshop was concluded with group works where representatives of management and workers jointly developed a procedural mechanism for complaint and dispute settlement. One of the groups with the most chosen procedural mechanism by other participants was declared as the winning group.

The winning group, representing one of the participating companies, PT Hung-A Indonesia, formulated the mechanism starting from the complaint posed by a worker to his/her supervisor who submits the complaint to both trade union and the management to be settled. If the complaint could not be settled at the bipartite level, the case will be mediated by the Ministry of Manpower and if it cannot be settled, the case will be taken to the industrial dispute settlement court.

Appraised the procedural mechanisms proposed by the participants, Lusi reminded the importance of the commitment from both parties of management and worker to build mutual trust and dialogue. “The ILO will continue supporting efforts taken by Indonesia to strengthen its industrial relations by providing relevant information materials. The ILO believe that Indonesia has a strong future for constructive industrial relations by turning the conflicts into productivity,” she concluded.