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?