SPSI told be Indonesia's strong union

CISARUA, West Java (JP): Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief urged leaders of the All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI) yesterday to strive to strengthen their organization because of the immense challenges they are facing.

Latief told a gathering of SPSI executives here that Indonesia is likely to face greater labor problems in the coming years, and for this a strong and professionally managed union which is truly committed to the workers' cause is vital.

He said the rapid industrial growth in Indonesia will bolster the number of industrial companies in Indonesia from around 151,000 to between 200,000 and 250,000 by the end of the decade.

This will be accompanied by an increase in the number of wage earners in the work force.

"This potentially means more problems in industrial relations and workers' protection that will take on the form of industrial conflicts, demonstrations and strikes," Latief said. "This is quite sensitive and the problems are likely to carry political connotations which could disrupt security and stability."

Latief yesterday gave the keynote address to the opening of the SPSI meeting attended by leaders from the central and regional boards.

Foreign embassies, the Association of Indonesian Employers, and the Asian and Pacific Regional Organization of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU-APRO) have sent their representatives to observe the proceedings.

The meeting is to hammer out new statutes following the SPSI's decision to revert back to its old form as a confederation of a number of trade unions. SPSI's departments have now been turned into trade unions with the SPSI acting as their umbrella organization.

The union has been widely criticized in the past for its failure to truly represent or fight for the interests of its members. Some workers have even shunned SPSI in preference to SBSI, the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union, which is challenging the government's policy of allowing only SPSI to represent workers in negotiations with managements.

Latief stressed that SPSI executives should be chosen from workers and once they are elected they should always remain close to the workers. "SPSI leaders should understand and fight for workers aspirations and should become deeply rooted among workers."

If SPSI now counts two million members, then the rapid industrialization program now underway should bolster its membership manyfold in the coming years.

This means that SPSI needs leaders with a vision to the future because SPSI will become a huge organization that should be managed in a professional way.

"We all want to see SPSI become a strong and independent organization capable of contributing its services to the progress of the country and the nation."

The minister welcomed the change in the SPSI's structure as timely in order for the union to cope with the challenges of the future. "If SPSI fails to do this, sooner or later members will abandon the organization."

ACFTU-APRO Secretary General Takashi Izumi in his address to the gathering later said SPSI is truly a grassroots movement.

"The percentage of workers organized under SPSI is still very low compared to the total number of organizable work force," he said, noting that only two million out of 35 million wage earners in Indonesia have joined the union.

SPSI must share the commitment of the international trade union movement in eliminating repression, discrimination and exploitation at workplaces, he said.

"The growing industrialization and the integration of the Indonesian economy in the global market pose many challenges and impose demands on socio-economic organizations like trade unions. It must be ensured that economic growth is accompanied by corresponding improvements in the living standards of people, of whom workers form a vital segment," he said. (rms)