Labor union honors Marsinah

Labor union honors Marsinah

JAKARTA (JP): The All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) has declared May 9 a national day opposing violence against workers in honor of Marsinah, the murdered labor activist.

"Beginning this year, May 9 will be marked as a day of anti- violence. We will use this day each year to renew our campaign for the fundamental rights of workers," union chairman Imam Sudarwo said during a short ceremony at the union's headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Marsinah's badly mutilated body was found in an abandoned shack in Nganjuk near Sidoarjo in East Java on May 9, 1993, only a few days after she led a workers strike at the watchmaking company where she was working.

Her death has become a rallying point for labor unions and human rights organizations to press the government and employers for better treatment of workers.

"All workers should honor Marsinah and her services to the workers' cause on May 9. They should also campaign for the elimination of violence and exploitation of workers," Imam said.

The union earlier conferred the title of "workers' heroine" on the deceased Marsinah.

Marsinah also won, posthumously, the Yap Thiam Hien human rights award given by the Foundation for the Center for Human Rights Studies in December 1993. (rms)