Unions unable to improve workers' welfare

Unions unable to improve workers' welfare

A'an Suryana and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Judge Suprapto handed down a verdict of two months and 14 days
to a young labor activist in Tangerang for stealing a pair of
reject sandals from the factory where he worked.

Despite the verdict, delivered early this year, Hamdani bin
Ijin maintained that he did not steal the reject sandals from PT
Osaga Mas Utama in Tangerang.

He argued that he and other workers in the factory normally
wore such sandals while bathing before they performed Friday
prayers at the factory compound.

According to many labor activists, Hamdani's actual sin might
not be that he stole the reject sandals, but rather that he was
an active member of the union.

Hamdani had organized rallies to demand salary increases and
staged protests against the dismissal of nine of his fellow
workers by the company.

His fight, however, died down as soon as he was brought to
court.

Labor activists saw the case, popularly known as the sandal
jepit case, as an example of the commonplace conspiracy between
employers and the security forces to weaken the labor movement in
labor-intensive companies. Most of the time, it is effective.

The case could also illustrate the immaturity of the labor
movement in the country, that quickly loses its grips as soon as
the leaders are gone.

"In practice, the coercion and intimidation of labor activists
still exists despite the demise of the New Order administration,"
said Dita Indah Sari, a leading labor activist.

Dita, chairwoman of the National Front for the Struggle of
Indonesian Workers (FNPBI), said that currently, employers often
collaborated with the police to charge labor activists with
defamation.

The move is clearly aimed at curbing the labor movement.

In addition to coercion, Dita asserted that worsening economic
conditions posed a far more damaging threat to the labor
movement.

According to Dita, the prolonged crisis had reduced the
bargaining power of workers. With 40 million people categorized
as unemployed, it would be easy for employers to find a
replacement for undesirable workers.

These two factors -- coercion and the high rate of
unemployment -- prevent workers from taking the benefit of their
new-found freedom, including the freedom to unionize and freedom
to strike.

Now is the time for labor unions to strengthen their position,
labor experts suggested.

One of the ways would be for unions to stay financially
independent.

According to labor expert Fauzi Abdullah, less than 10 percent
of around 40 national labor unions and hundreds of other loosely
organized labor organizations are able to finance half of their
activities from membership fees.

The others rely on outside funds, and this explain why they
are unable to stay independent.

"If this is the case, then, the executives of such unions
would be more obligated to meet project targets from donors
rather than from members," Fauzi said.

Only labor unions at state companies could independently
finance their activities. But still, their independence was
questionable as sometimes they fought for the interests of their
management.

Another questionable factor is that those unions were
established with the help of international non-governmental
organizations or political organizations.

The Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI), an extension
organization of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), serves as a
good example.

Such organizations surely have weaknesses, as they will be
used for certain political interests, and disregard the basic
fight for the welfare of the workers. Furthermore they fail to
create a collective awareness of workers' rights.

The country had seen the failure of the Federation of All
Indonesian Labor Unions (FSPSI), established in 1973, in fighting
for workers' rights because they were financially dependent on
the ruling party at that time.

This government-sanctioned union was then even used by the
ruling Golkar Party to reach its target to recruit workers into
the party's membership.

Now, the one labor union policy has gone. Currently, it is
very easy to establish a labor union. A group of 10 people can go
directly to the local manpower office to register a labor union.
But, their fight for better welfare still has a long way to go as
Indonesia's minimum wage of around US$35 per month is the lowest
in Asia, after Bangladesh.