Dita fight for exploited workers

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Coercion, intimidation, torture and poverty in this "era of freedom" still haunt the life of workers, and also the thoughts of labor champion Dita Indah Sari.

The reform era had merely succeeded in creating a pseudo- improvement in the situation of local workers rather than any genuine improvement in their welfare.

Freedom of expression remained a right on paper only. In practice, workers were still intimidated and coerced.

The economic downturn since 1997 had eroded the bargaining power of labor vis-a-vis employers, with the employers frequently resorting to mass dismissals of workers.

To deal with such challenges, a political struggle was badly needed. The workers must now pursue a political fight to get their rights protected.

According to Dita, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Workers Struggle National front (FNPBI), workers must now consider widening their struggle into a formal political movement as they are not well-represented in the political arena.

There was no party as yet that truly fought for labor interests, while labor-based parties contesting the 1999 election had failed to convince workers to vote for them, she said.

"A strong political party for workers must be formed to guard against extra-parliamentary movements. Experience in Latin America has shown that both extra- and intra-parliamentary movements are a good combination for wielding political influence," she said.

Despite expressing her eagerness to form a political party to represent workers, Dita conceded that it would take time.

According to Dita, the political awareness of workers was still low. Instead of voting for labor-based parties, they voted for personalities and along religious lines.

"Therefore, we are working hard today to develop the political awareness of the workers so that they will eventually vote in a rational way, for a political party that truly fights for their interests," said Dita.

Dita did not provide an exact timetable, but the much-awaited party was expected to be ready to participate in the 2009 electoral race.

The new labor party, should it be established, should learn from the failure of the four labor-based parties that contested the 1999 election.

These were the Workers' Solidarity Party, National Labor Party, All-Indonesian Workers' Solidarity Party and the Indonesian Workers' Party.

The new party, first of all, had to win the hearts and minds of workers who were politically aware, Dita explained.

Therefore, the new party would have to fight for the real interests of workers.

The party's target would be to grab as many seats as possible in the House of Representatives. And the ultimate target would be to govern the country.

Whether Dita will eventually lead the country remains to be seen.

However, her struggle for the welfare of workers should stand to her in contesting the 2009 election.

Born in Medan, North Sumatra, on Dec. 30, 1972, Dita is described by friends as a tough woman.

Her passion for workers' issues became apparent in 1992 when she joined a leftist free study forum in her university, the University of Indonesia.

Dita conceded that her commitment to workers rose even higher the following year when she lived with workers in North Jakarta.

The grinding poverty faced by the workers in her neighborhood eventually encouraged her to enter the often dangerous labor movement for the betterment of workers' welfare.

This commitment then pushed her to enter the political arena, and she joined the People's Democratic Party (PRD) in 1994 to fight for workers' interests.

Her late mother Adjidar Ascha was opposed to her choice, fearing that her daughter would receive harsh treatment from the New Order regime.

Her fears soon came true. Dita was expelled from the Faculty of Law at the University of Indonesia for joining the PRD after the government branded it a communist fellow-traveler.

Despite being monitored by the then authoritarian government, Dita was defiant and continued her struggle to fight for workers' rights.

She became increasingly active in the labor movement, accompanying workers on various protests.

Her actions finally earned her the wrath of the New Order government and she received a six-year jail sentence for subversion in 1996 after she led a labor protest in the East Java capital of Surabaya.

Dita spent her sentence in various women's prisons, including those in Surabaya, Malang and Tangerang, before she received a pardon from then president B.J. Habibie in 1999.

Once out of prison, Dita resumed her activities in the labor movement, and she later became the chairwoman of the FNPBI.

The sacrifices she had made on behalf of the country's workers finally bore fruit in August 2001 when she won the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippine government in the Young Emergent Leaders category.

The award convinced her that her chosen path as a labor activist had been the right path to take all along.