Lack of awareness, unity renders unions impotent

Hera Diani and Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The number reaches 140 and they boast some 11 million members, but labor unions here remain unsuccessful as a powerful political force or even in their ability to fight for the interests of the workers they represent.

Official records show that there are 63 registered national federations of labor unions, 140 labor unions and some 11,000 company-level unions.

The unions have only slightly succeeded in their fight for improved welfare, favorable working conditions, less working hours, personal development and social security.

The unions have even failed to gather many workers for the protests against the recent utility price hikes, as the recent numbers prove. They have involved on average only about 3,000 workers instead of the 25,000 they claimed would demonstrate.

Therefore, there is still a long way to go before representatives of workers can become a major political force that could influence decision making in this country.

Former manpower minister Bomer Pasaribu said that local unions lacked organizational and managerial abilities, and most had internal leadership problems.

"The numbers are high, but only a few of the labor unions have clear programs to fight for their common goals," said Bomer.

Labor expert Tutur Suwito said that the unions had become similar to political parties, in which the leaders had their own vested interests.

"We can see that from the recent protests, where many unions were reluctant to get involved and support the others," he said.

The workers themselves still have a very low awareness of the social and political situation in their own country, as they will join rallies or protests only if they can directly see and feel how the issues affect them personally. There is no concept of solidarity for fellow workers in a different area or economic sector.

"Many workers decided not to join the recent protests (against the price hikes) because they have yet to feel the impact personally of the increased prices," said the former chairman of the non-governmental organization Jakarta Labor Institute (IPJ).

"If the price hike causes the company to lay off their workers, that will be when the workers react to the price hike. It has always been like that with other issues. Instead of proposing a program that will improve their welfare in the big picture for the long run, workers only have the wherewithal to impulsively react to an existing policy," Tutur said.

Workers, he added, also still think in a very narrow way how to personally earn as much money by working as long as they are able, instead of thinking how to improve their collective welfare over the long run.

"The existing labor law is also not conducive to establishing a strong union, because the minimum prerequisite is just 10 members," said Tutur.

Many unions in Indonesia were founded, and later managed, by non-governmental organization (NGO) activists, such as Dita Indah Sari and Muchtar Pakpahan.

This, sometimes, inadvertently results in the workers being too dependent upon their activist patrons, thus impairing the capacity-building process among the workers themselves.

This weak leadership is also the result of the long history of oppression instituted by former president Soeharto, who allowed only government-sanctioned unions to exist, which often had infiltrators undermining them.

This Soeharto/New Order oppression impaired the labor movement's ability to groom potential leaders from among the ranks of workers, and also significantly increased the workers' distrust of unions.

The labor movement and number of unions has grown significantly since the fall of Soeharto. The increased number, however, has only created greater fragmentation between workers in different sectors.

It is also questionable whether the figure of 11 million registered union members is accurate, as it has caused confusion if there are more than one union in each company, thus double counting one individual.

The problem becomes more difficult at national-level negotiations. Often the negotiations have stalled because union representatives become embroiled in fights among themselves. The deliberations over the latest labor bills were proof of that.

"Labor unions in state-owned companies are far better than those in private firms. They are more capable of mobilizing their members and are less tainted by particular political interests," he said.

In order to empower labor unions, Bomer stressed the need for an improved labor law, especially after the implementation of regional autonomy.

In addition, Bomer suggested the establishment of an equal and meaningful bipartite relationship between workers and employers, and a tripartite relationship involving the government, so as to facilitate negotiations to resolve disputes.