U.S., international uniond demand Pakpahan's release<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AFP): U.S. and international labor union leaders
\nled a raucous demonstration outside Indonesia's embassy
\nWednesday, demanding the release of a jailed Indonesian labor
\nleader charged with subversion.<\/p>\n
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the demonstration kicks
\noff an international campaign to free Muchtar Pakpahan, chief of
\nthe unofficial Indonesian Prosperous Trade Union (SBSI).<\/p>\n
Pakpahan is facing execution under subversion charges. His
\ncase, and Indonesia's crackdown last year on dissent, have
\nsparked harsh international criticism, including from the United
\nStates and the European Union.<\/p>\n
\"The American labor movement is united with the international
\nlabor movement,\" Sweeney told the crowd of about 200 labor and
\ncivil and human rights activists.<\/p>\n
\"We will not rest until they stop harassing and firing men and
\nwomen for trying to organize unions, free and independent of
\ngovernment control ... We will not rest until they free M.P.,\"
\ncalling the labor leader by his initials.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan is \"one of the most remarkable leaders of our time,\"
\nsaid the chief of the American Federation of Labor and Congress
\nof Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The national labor union
\nhas launched a campaign seeking the release of Pakpahan and other
\nlabor activists in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators, chanting \"Free M.P.!\" and \"Justice Now!,\"
\nmarched up and down the sidewalk in front of the stately building
\non the capital's Embassy Row. Several figures could be seen
\nwatching from inside its curtained windows.<\/p>\n
The drum banging and whistleblowing stopped for speeches by
\nSweeney, Bill Jordan, general secretary of the International
\nConfederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), and Marcello
\nMalentacchi, general secretary of the International Metalworkers
\nFederation and chairman of the International Trade Secretariat
\n(ITS) General Secretariats.<\/p>\n
The demonstration came as the ITS General Secretariats held
\nits annual meeting this week for the first time in Washington, an
\nAFL-CIO spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
The ICFTU represents free labor organizations on all five
\ncontinents, with a total membership of 124 million. The ITS
\ngroups national unions concerned with a particular trade,
\nprofession or industry. The AFL-CIO was formed in a 1955 merger
\nof the United States' two largest labor unions.<\/p>\n
The ICFTU's Jordan said he had visited Pakpahan in his cell a
\nfew weeks ago and told him that labor activists around the world
\n\"are going to go on fighting until the Indonesian government
\nreleases him.\" \"He was emotional,\" the British leader said.<\/p>\n
Jordan blasted the Indonesian government as a \"regime that
\nsets its laws to favor multinationals at the expense of its own
\npeople.\"<\/p>\n
He said he, Sweeney and Malentacchi were presenting Indonesian
\nAmbassador Arifin Siregar with a message that there is no
\nevidence that Pakpahan is guilty of inciting rioting.<\/p>\n
Instead, he asserted, an Indonesian commission clearly
\nindicated the government itself incited it.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan was jailed in 1995 for allegedly organizing a labor
\ndemonstration in Medan, North Sumatra, that degenerated into
\nanti-ethnic Chinese rioting in 1994.<\/p>\n
Sweeney met with Pakpahan in July 1996, before the SBSI leader
\nwas jailed, to express the support of American workers for the
\nstruggle of independent unions in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government only recognizes one trade union, the
\nstate-sponsored Federation of All Indonesian Workers' Union. It
\nconsiders all others illegal and has backed a harassment campaign
\nagainst independent trade unionists.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/us-international-uniond-demand-pakpahans-release-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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