[vol.2] International Women Workers News_ Indonesian Workers Reject their Label as 'Cheap Labor'
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 1. 30. 15:49"When orders are backed up, workers are made to work 24_hour shifts, beginning from eight o'clock in the morning to eight the next morning; the doors are sometimes locked to keep the workers from going outside.
Before menstruation leave is given, women are physically examined to confirm that they are menstruating. Once over 600 workers were for ced to stand outside the factory for being late with their hands raised on their heads and with one foot raised; about 20 workers fainted from sunstroke."
The above quote is taken from an interview conducted on September l9, 1993, with three women's labor activists from Indonesia during their visit to the Korean Women Workers Associations United; it reveals the inhumane treatment of workers by Korean companies in Indonesia. These Indonesian labor activists are attempting to inform the world about Indonesia's labor situation and to request cooperation in resolving workers' issues there. "Working Women" will send a summary of this report to be published in "Asian Labor Update" (ALU), the newsletter published by the Asian Monitor Resource Center in Hong Kong.
-
Why is Indonesia so attractive to business?
- A minimum wage that does not match the minimum subsistence level
The current minimum wage in Indonesia remains far below the government-calculated minimum subsistence level of 2,200 rupiahs (1. 25 dollars) per day.
As this minimum subsistence 1evel is based on the price of food, housing, and other basic necessities, it should be the basis for determining the minimum wage. But, these ca1culations do not take into account inflation and are based on cheaper-priced goods in the suburbs. Even the pro-government Indonesian Workers Federation (SPSI) admits that the actual wage is only equal to 31 percent of the minimum subsistence level. Moreover, only 8O percent of companies adhere to this wage leve1.
Even though many workers do overtime at a rate of I.5 times the normal wage, most workers prefer to rest than to be able to earn this higher rate. As Ta-ti (alias), a worker in the city of Grayta, angrily states, 'The jackets that we produce here are sold in Europe for 425 dollars each. Why can't they give us enough income for us to eat and survive?' According to ALU data, Tex, a joint venture company in Java formed with Taiwanese capital, asks its workers to do two hours of overtime everyday, and Tae-young Indonesia, a Korean company in Tangerang, forces workers to work three hours of overtime everyday to reach production goals.
Many foreign companies in Indonesia do not deny that they can pay workers more. When a researcher in Tangerang asked a Korean company manager if the company could increase the pay for workers, the manager replied, 'It is not our responsibility that the wage is so 1ow because the government determines the minimum wage.
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
The problems confronting young women workers go beyond economic ones. In many factories in Bandung, sexual harassment and gender discrimination occur on a regular basis. In Lumakalimas, a textile company, pregnancy means immediate lay-off, and women applying for jobs at Pharmatex and Tarmatex are required to undergo examinations to confirm their virginity; they cannot be hired if they refuse this examination.
- The government goals of political stability and stability in labor management relations
Labor-management relations have been severely regulated by the central government. For many years, only one labor union, the Indonesian Workers Federation (SPSI) has been a11owed to exist, while other independent organizations like the Free Labor Unions United (SRMS) have been severely suppressed.
Government Decree Numbers llO9 and 1986 states that 'laborers (who) want to establish a labor union can do so only if they consult with company officials.' If an employee is suspected of organizing workers without adhering to these regulations, he/she is immediately fired even if the union formed is part of the SPSI.
The SPSI actively cooperates with the government's demand for political stability, and openly declares that it will not support activities to organize labor unions or incite strikes as these acts upset political stability.
- Worker despair adds fuel to the labor struggle
From early 1991, a series of unplanned strikes have broken out in joint venture and foreign companies operating in places like Tangerang, Bogo1, Bekasi, and Tapoku. In June, over 30O workers, mostly women, participated in a demonstration march in Jakarta which ended in front of the Ministry of Labor. The workers shouted, Our empty stomachs are causing these demonstrations!'
Last August, a large-scale strike at the Jaka Tunggal Group (a poup managing 14 companies which produces tires, paint, waterproofing, and shoes for export and domestic sales) was enough to paralyze company operations. The workers mostly from the countryside, demanded daily wage increases, improvements in transportation, food provisions, job stability, and the freedom to unite.
The army was mobilized to suppress this strike, and the 'instigators' (the government uses this word to describe labor union organizers) of the strike were put under surveillance, then tortured and fired from work. Despite such oppressive tactics, this strike is becoming the impetus for greater opposition to government and business. It also helps counter the stereotype, held by foreign investors, that Indonesian workers are submissive.
- The SRMS and government suppression
(SBMS has closed down partly due to internal differences. Another separate independent union has been created.)
Indonesia's labor movement, which has been forced into silence for 25 years under the name of social stability, can now use the Jaka Group strike as an opportunity to find a new direction for the movement. The SRMS, established in November 1991, was the first free labor union formed in Indonesia in 25 years.
After only one year, its chief secretary Saute Aritonang was kidnapped by the military for a short time. Despite continued government attacks against the SBMS leaders and membership. 220 core members, over 4,000 registered members, and 30,000 supporters made up the SBMS. This union is also acknowledged by the Indonesian branch of the ILO.
As increased attention towards the SBMS has decreased SPSI membership, SPSI president Sudaru, in last September's meeting with the Ministry of Labor, took a more critical stance towards the country's labor conditions, demanding, for example, that the minimum wage law be implemented. In the meantime, SBMS is seeking the help of foreign labor unions in applying international pressure on the Indonesian government to acknowledge its existence and the right of workers to unite.
Indonesia's economic development, characterized by large-scale foreign capital inflows and a 1990 growth rate of 7. 25 percent, has resulted from suppressing worker unity for the sake of attracting foreign caprta1. Approximately 38 bil1ion dollars of foreign capital have flowed into Indonesia since 1967 because of such government efforts.
Of the approximately 70 million workers in Indonesia. IZ million are unemployed and 2.4 million young and educated workers enter the 1abor market every year, fueling the labor supp1y needed for industrialization. The wages for Indonesia's industrial workers are among the 1owest in Southeast Asia.
The government claims that manufacturing workers in Jakarta and Java (in western lndonesia) receive a minimum daily wage of 2,100 rupiahs (1.10 dollars). But according to ALU. 80 percent of Tangerang's workers receive I ,600 rupiahs (0.80 doIlars) a day. This can only be good news for foreign investors preferring cheap labor.