It's time to end social injustice

It's time to end social injustice

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The workers' protests, which degenerated into riots in Medan
last week, have drawn numerous reactions. Political scientist
Amir Santoso argues that unless the government is willing to deal
with this case in an appropriate manner, it will cause a wider
social movement for justice.
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JAKARTA (JP): As the workers were demonstrating in Medan, one
question that arose was whether their actions were spontaneous or
if some other party might have been involved in planning them.

Whenever we are confronted with demonstrations, we seem to be
inclined to look not only for the motives, but also for possible
masterminds behind them.

In my view nothing wrong with this habit, as long as the
search for possible masterminds does not overshadow our efforts
to find the cause of the demonstrations.

Obviously, workers demonstrate because they regard their
living standard as being inadequate. Workers, at the same time,
may complain about inequities which they feel exist in the
distribution of profits, and in the government's treatment of
their grievances.

Previously, low-paid workers were unaware of the unfair
treatment they had been receiving from their employers and, as a
result, the labor situation remained comparatively calm.

The awareness of such unfair treatment arose only after
organizations came into being to inform them of the situation.

Other agents of information, such as the mass media, may also
promote such awareness. There is considerable truth in the
assertion made by one sociologist that a group's potential for
dissent will only express itself when the members of the group
become aware of the situation they are in.

Workers then compare their low living standards with those of
their employers, who generally live in affluence. And workers
also know that the employers are protected by the government, and
often inordinately so.

For the sake of ensuring the continued existence of
industries, the right of workers to organize is restricted.
Communication between workers and employers is thus impeded and a
number of employers defy the government's minimum wage
regulations.

The employers suppress their workers wages because they know
they can count on the protection of the government apparatus when
a dispute arises.

According to some sources, this protection is sometimes given
by the government apparatus, not only because the government
wants to ensure the continued existence of the industries, but
because the officials in question -- mostly at the regional and
local levels -- receive money from the industrialists.

As a consequence the workers feel they are being treated
unfairly and their resentment mounts.

In Medan, workers are different from those in the greater
Jakarta area. In Medan, generally speaking, people tend to be
more hot tempered and are more easily provoked into staging
demonstrations and indulging in destructive behavior.

The Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), which is accused
by the government of having masterminded the demonstrations, is
led by a person who hails from that region.

Thus, it is easier for the SBSI to communicate with workers in
Medan than in other regions for the purpose of staging a
demonstration.

It may be true that the SBSI had urged peaceful
demonstrations. What they seemed to have overlooked is the fact
that demonstrations are easily manipulated by other parties --
whoever they may be -- in order to raise racial issues and
discredit the SBSI.

Aside from all that, the Medan disturbances display three
particular aspects that urgently need to be dealt with if worse
incidents are to be deterred.

First, the time has come for the government to pass
legislation to lessen the economic disparity between indigenous
and non-indigenous Indonesians.

Indigenous Indonesians need to be assured a greater share in
the national economy. The Medan upheavals show that the
dissatisfaction among native Indonesians over such economic
injustices is mounting.

Such dissatisfaction is perceived by all indigenous
Indonesians throughout the country.

Second, the time has come for the government to issue strict
regulations to make sure that officials cut down collusion with
industrialists, to prevent settlements that put the latter in an
overly favorable position.

Third, the government should instruct its apparatus,
especially in the provinces, to open better channels of
communication with workers.

If, for instance, at the first meeting at the governor's
office the government apparatus had entered into a dialog with
the workers, I believe the demonstrations might not have
happened.

The inability of government officials to talk with the people
is a public secret. For whatever reasons, some government
officials are afraid to face the people.

Whenever groups of people come to ask for a dialog, officials
often send their subordinates to represent them. As a result the
people become angry and disappointed.

I am afraid that unless the government can settle these
problems in a satisfactory and appropriate manner, the Medan
incidents could prove to be the trigger for a wider movement for
social justice.

The writer is executive director of the Institute for Research
and Development of Social Sciences at University of Indonesia.