Improving working conditions and competitiveness in the export garment sector in Indonesia

The export garment industry in Indonesia is confronted to several external challenges, including extreme heat, air pollution, flooding, reduced availability of water, and the generation of chemical and other waste – all of which undermine productivity and exacerbate occupational safety and health (OSH) risks. The industry is estimated to employ 5 million workers, with more than 80% being women. While some factories are taking steps towards gender equality, such as implementing factory-wide gender equity policies, women are still facing greater risks regarding mental and physical safety. Their situation is aggravated because of their limited representation in trade unions and bipartite social dialogue mechanisms at enterprise level, including workplace committees (LKSB) and OSH committees (P2K3), which are both required by Indonesian law. In cases where participation on these committees is gender-balanced, other factors, such as limited awareness on the importance of women-related OSH issues, might pose limits to greater gender equality. 

OSH committees play a key role in enforcing OSH precautions through social dialogue, especially assessing risks in the workplace every six months, as mandated by Indonesian law. However, women are often underrepresented in these committees, despite representing the majority of workers in the garment industry (Better Work, 2022). As a consequence, OSH committees rarely receive inputs on women-related issues at the workplace, such as breastfeeding facilities or psycho-social risks due to violence and harassment in the workplace, which should be taken into account in the management of OSH risks according to ILO Convention No. 190 concerning Violence and Harassment.

The Better Work programme, an ILO-IFC initiative active in several countries was established in Indonesia in 2011, to address these issues and improve working conditions and competitiveness in the export garment sector more generally, including by raising levels of compliance with national labour law and international standards. While the export garment industry is contributing to a small share of the GDP in Indonesia, achievements under Better Work in Indonesia have led to improvements in working conditions across the labour market. For example, a labour law guide has helped to navigate complex legislation and provide support for coherent interpretation, thus strengthening workers’ rights.

Social dialogue is at the heart of the programme. Positive change at both the enterprise and sectoral levels is driven by effective, representative and inclusive social dialogue, along with strong partnerships between tripartite constituents on a shared vision for the future of the industry. To this end, a tripartite advisory committee is guiding interventions under Better Work.

The presence of worker organisations and the respect to the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, including collective bargaining agreements, are critical in amplifying the impact of Better Work: workplace unionisation and collective bargaining are associated with lower non-compliance related to salaries and benefits, contracts, and occupational safety, health, and welfare standards (Better Work, 2022). For example, when comparing workers in Better Work versus non-Better Work factories in Indonesia, workers  in Better Work factories were less likely to be uncomfortably hungry or thirsty at work, or uncomfortably hot or cold while at work (Better Work, 2022[75]). Further, better representation of women is often key towards addressing gender- and sex-specific health and safety risks, for example relating to pregnancy and nursing.

The Better Work Strategy 2022-2027 puts a specific emphasis on promoting safer workplaces. This includes addressing violence and harassment in the context of OSH. One notable example of this approach is the RESPECT sexual harassment training. Management, workers and union representatives participate in the RESPECT training of trainers aimed at increasing awareness, preventing sexual harassment and handling complaints.[2] More specifically, the RESPECT training gives training participants the possibility to assess how workplace committees and OSH committees coordinate and address violence and harassment in the workplace and how a respectful culture in the workplace can be built.

After the training, participants are tasked to establish RESPECT teams and implement factory-specific action plans for training and prevention. As a result of the training, participants reported improvements in the following areas:

1. Gender equality: Some male managers started to encourage women to take leadership roles and there was an increased awareness of occupational segregation.
2. Sexual harassment: Participants reported increased awareness, recognised inappropriate behaviour and set boundaries.
3. Action plans: Participants reported implementing a specific campaign to combat harassment and improving communication with workers about how to report incidents. They also established standard intervention models to address complaints effectively.

Importantly, the RESPECT training has supported enterprises to implement recent guidelines issued by the Minister of Manpower. On 9 May 2023, the Minister issued Decree No. 88 of 2023 on Guidelines for the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Following the adoption of the Sexual Harassment Act in 2022, the Guidelines provide technical guidance to employers to prevent, better monitor, and respond to sexual harassment cases by requiring enterprises to put bipartite Sexual Harassment Task Forces in place. These task forces are meant to establish support programmes and activities, receive and record victims’ complaints by collecting relevant information, increase awareness on codes of ethics and respect the confidentiality of personal data.

The RESPECT teams established after the RESPECT training at enterprise level were in favour of transforming these teams into the new task forces as required by the 2023 guidelines. 100 enterprises now have a Sexual Harassment Task Forces in place with a specific mandate to receive and handle complaints, document violations and provide recommendations on addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. These task forces are established under the workplace committees, giving greater visibility to the need to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace and strengthening coordination and accountability. The overall objective is to support change at the system level in enterprises.