A Neoliberal Pandemic in Asia

Abstract

In the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was some optimism amongst trade unions that the lessons of the pandemic would lead to a renewed sense of solidarity coupled with a heightened appreciation for public services and the workers who deliver them. This new found appreciation, it was hoped, could stop the assault on workers and their unions. The realisation that precarious work makes us all unsafe would lead to regulatory changes to deliver secure jobs. The pandemic initially seemed to open opportunities for rethinking orthodox economics, with a glimmer of hope that the recovery might usher in a new social contract – a healthy recovery that benefited people over profit. Certainly, there was a sense that public health and other public services and particularly frontline workers were finally being valued ahead of corporate bosses. At the same time it was clear that neoliberalism was making the pandemic worse. Neoliberalism shifts risks on to individuals and the pandemic had shown that those conditions make us all unsafe. Across the region the dangers of precarious work became apparent, with Malaysia1, Singapore2, Thailand3, Australia4 and India, all experiencing outbreaks because precarious workers were unable to isolate, denied adequate PPE and were working across multiple employment sites. Privatisation of health care made it less possible for many people to access testing and treatment and rates of mortality in private aged care facilities was far higher than in public care5. Across the world, state intervention was back in fashion. But capital cannot waste a crisis. Governments across the Asia and Pacific regions have used the cover of the pandemic to drive through some of the widest sweeping neoliberal reforms seen since the IMF imposed Structural Adjustment Plans following the Asian Financial Crisis. Why should we be surprised? For the past 40 years disasters have been used to justify austerity and neoliberal structural reform with disastrous consequences. The global financial crisis demonstrated that stark evidence of capitalism’s failures does not lead to progressive reform. But the scale of the attacks on labour rights and public service, particularly in India and Indonesia, are brazen, exploiting the circumstances of the pandemic to deny workers opportunities to mobilise against the reforms. Indonesia In 2019 Indonesian President Joko Widodo (‘Jokowi’), began laying the ground for wholesale reform of Indonesia’s economy and regulatory environment. He contended that “we need structural reform, deregulation, de-bureaucratisation, so we can simplify doing business. I want all ministers to evaluate each problem in detail and to detect weaknesses and points that have hindered businesses”6. And so it came to pass in 2020, while his country was battered by the pandemic, Jokowi introduced the most comprehensive and radical change to the countries economic and regulatory framework since becoming a democratic nation. With one single bill Jokowi has done something that took even Thatcher and Regan years to do – he has rushed through the neoliberal playbook. On 5 October 2020, the Legislative Body of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (‘DPR’) agreed to pass the Omnibus Bill on Job Creation or what is commonly known as the Omnibus Law and Jokowi signed off on the 1187-page Law on 3 November. The taskforce pulled together to draft the Bill included no unions or representatives of the people who would most suffer from the provisions. Instead it was stacked with representatives of capital and included at least 9 people affiliated with mining and private sector energy interests7. It’s not surprising then that the final law contains provisions to privatise energy, slash labour rights, rip-up environmental protections, and reduce the rights of Indigenous peoples. Workers will now be more easily sacked, receive reduced severance pay, have less secure work and likely to see wages stagnate or fall. The law removes the basic cost of living as a consideration in setting minimum wages. It removes the limit on the use and length of contracts, meaning insecure work will skyrocket. Indonesia’s own national human rights commission, Komnas Ham, said that the Law was likely to violate human rights with particular concerns around the rollback of worker’s rights, the expansion of central government powers, risks to the environment and...