Labor theater helps improve workers' rights
Labor theater helps improve workers' rights
By T. Sima Gunawan
JAKARTA (JP): Pierce Brosnan rehearsed the famous line "My name is Bond, James Bond" every morning while brushing his teeth. Jodie Foster spent a few months learning a new language before her convincing role as an isolated woman in Nell. The members of the Theater Buruh Indonesia, however, do not need to work that hard to play their roles.
The Theater Buruh Indonesia promotes the rights of laborers. Before performing, however, the artists do not need to visit a factory to study the activities of the laborers or interview workers -- all members of the theater group are workers themselves.
"We don't need to rehearse a lot because what we bring to the stage is our own life," Ani, a member of the group, told The Jakarta Post last week.
The theatrical group first performed in 1989 at Galaxy Theater in Bogor, West Java. In Pengalaman (Experience), they talked about their experience as low-paid workers exploited by industrialists.
Every year since then the group has produced a play for their co-workers. They also occasionally perform for limited audiences. For example, they performed for visiting women's rights activists from Japan in 1991.
The group planned to perform Senandung Terpuruk Dari Balik Tembok Pabrik (Sad Song from behind Factory Walls) at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Art Center in Jakarta on May 13 and 14 this year, and at the Galaxy Theater in Bogor on May 15. They obtained a permit for the show in Bogor, but were not allowed to play in Jakarta. The police refused to issue the permit because they claimed the play could disrupt national stability.
The refusal did not discourage the group. In September, they performed in Surakarta, Central Java, upon the request of local activists, and in Bandung, West Java, on the invitation of students of the University of Parahyangan. The theater group is scheduled to present their play at Petra University in Surabaya today.
The performance is expected to not only improve laborers' awareness of their rights, but also change employers' attitudes.
"I hope that employers will be scared after they watch our play and hear our complaints. So far, they think we know nothing about our rights," Ani said.
The theatrical group was formed in 1987 under a project organized by the HKBP Batak Protestant Church and a German foundation. Remy Silado, a prominent dramatist, trained the workers for months.
In 1988, the workers were contacted by Sisbikum, an organization for the promotion of labor rights. The laborers spontaneously shared their experiences and problems. They later agreed to write down their stories. Aware that the performance could be effective in educating Indonesian workers, Sisbikum decided to bring the play to the stage, said Sisbikum director Arist Merdeka Sirait. Their first show was a big success.
"The building had a 1,000-seat capacity, but there were more than 1,200 workers who came for the show," Sirait said.
Some 25 workers from a number of factories were expected to sell 25 tickets each. A ticket cost Rp 500 and the response was beyond expectations. The audience was double the organizer's estimate.
Women
Today 30 workers from 15 factories are active in the labor theater. Most are women.
Data from the national bureau of statistics reveals that in 1994, 87 percent of the 30 million people working in the industrial sector were women.
One woman, Marsinah, a 23-year-old labor activist killed in 1993, led a strike at PT Catur Putra Surya to demand improved working conditions, including a raise in the daily wage from Rp 1,700 to Rp 2,250. Her body was found in a shack near Nganjuk, East Java, about 200 kilometers from her home. The police have failed to find the murderers.
"Women have to fight. Isn't it what we call emancipation?" a member of the labor theater asked.
The labor theater publishes a 20-page monthly bulletin written by its members.
They print 100 copies of each edition and then distribute it to workers in several big cities, including Surabaya and Medan.
The workers meet every Sunday in a modest house in Depok to discuss their problems and find solutions under the facilitation of Sisbikum. They also attend a short course on social management offered by an NGO called Circle Participatory Social Management.
Some members of the theater group are active in a music group. In 1993 the group recorded their first album and they are now preparing a second album to promote labor rights.
Like the bulletin and tickets for the play, the cassettes are not free. The group produced 1,000 cassettes, which were available for Rp 5,000 each and which could be paid for in three installments.
"But the authorities banned the cassettes," Dina, a singer, said.
Sirait said that the theater group is financially independent. In the beginning, Sisbikum provided Rp 3 million to support its activities.
The labor theater plans to perform in Medan next year.
Medan, the third largest city in the country, was rocked by bloody riots in April 1994. About 10,000 workers demonstrated violently to demand a raise, from Rp 3,100 to Rp 7,000. Dozens of cars and buildings were damaged and a Chinese-Indonesian businessman was killed during the racially-charged riot.
Last April the government increased the daily minimum wage in Medan to Rp 4,200. The daily minimum wage in Jakarta and West Java was raised from Rp 3,800 to Rp 4,600; in Central Java from Rp 2,700 to Rp 3,000; and in East Java from Rp 3,000 to Rp 3,700.
Not all companies, however, complied with the new regulations.
"There are still employers who give the workers less than the minimum wages," Meliana Sihombing from Sisbikum said.
Meliana, 23, a graduate of Perbanas Banking Academy of Medan, is the performance coordinator of the theater group.
Some other companies pay the minimum wage but they refuse to provide any allowances. They say that the wage includes all allowances, even though the regulations do not say so.
The Ministry of Manpower announced earlier this year that the government prosecuted 202 companies between April 1994 and March 1995 for violating a host of labor regulations, including minimum wages, overtime pay and social insurance.
The government recorded 1,214 strikes and demonstrations nationwide between 1988 and August this year. The workers demanded more pay and the establishment of independent labor unions.
Tati, the leader of theater group, helped organize a strike at Great River Industries in 1991. The company, which produces international brand names like Triumph and Arrow, agreed to meet some of the demands, but dismissed Tati and some other workers.
She decided to open a warung (small shop) instead of looking for a job in another factory.
"I had had it. I would never work in a factory again," she said.
But the 29-year-old woman is still active in the group, saying she wants to help improve workers' awareness of their rights.
Even if the government carries out its plan to increase minimum wages by at least 12 percent next April, Indonesia will still have some of the cheapest labor in the world.
Cheap labor attracts foreign investors, but how long can the government enhance economic development at the expense of the workers?