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The Committee takes note of the Government's report, as well as of the information supplied to the Conference Committee in June 1998 and the detailed discussion which took place thereafter. The Committee further notes the report of the direct contacts mission which visited the country in August 1998 and which had the mandate of assisting the Government in ensuring that its draft labour legislation was brought into full conformity with Conventions Nos. 87 and 98. Finally, the Committee notes the conclusions of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 1773 (see 316th Report, paragraphs 570-617, approved by the Governing Body at its June 1999 session).

In its previous observations, the Committee had noted with concern that the Manpower Act No. 25 of 1997 (Indonesian Labour Bill of 1997) did not ensure a better protection of the rights guaranteed by the Convention and had requested the Government to ensure that the draft legislation was amended in order to address the following points which were raised in the Committee's previous comments:

-- the need to strengthen the protection of workers so as to cover acts of anti-union discrimination at the time of recruitment or during the employment relationship (including dismissal and other forms of prejudicial action, such as transfers or demotions) accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions (Article 1 of the Convention);

-- the need to adopt specific legislative provisions to protect workers' and employers' organizations against acts of interference by each other accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions (Article 2); and

-- the need to lift the impediments to free collective bargaining (Article 4).

In this regard, the Committee notes the Government's statement that the implementation of Manpower Act No. 25 of 1997 has been delayed until 1 October 2000 during which time it is being reviewed with ILO technical assistance in order to ensure its conformity with Convention No. 98. The Government also indicates that a draft Trade Union Bill and a draft Labour Disputes Settlement Bill, which were drawn up with ILO technical assistance, have been submitted to the Cabinet Secretariat.

The Committee takes note of these legislative developments with interest and trusts that the draft legislation will ensure full protection of the rights guaranteed by the Convention. It requests the Government to send copies of the Manpower Act No. 25 of 1997, the draft Trade Union Bill as well as the draft Labour Dispute Settlement Bill once they have been adopted. It requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this regard.