Globalisation and trade union resistance in Indonesia: Indonesian unionist to visit Australia Since the overthrow of the Suharto regime in 1998, workers have been able to take advantage of the opportunities to organise and campaign for improvements in their working and living conditions. Their struggle for more than merely subsistence wages from rapacious bosses backed by the government and the military, continues to inspire unionists all over the world. The Indonesian government under President Wahid is continuing the policy of his predecessors and agreeing to IMF loans in return for austerity budgets. While bankrupt business conglomerates receive funds, public transport and energy prices rise, inflation is increasing as are the cost of all public services. Privatisation and deregulation have seen 40% of textile workers and 75% of construction workers lose their jobs since the end of 1997. Under the Suharto regime workers were forced to join the government endorsed union SPSI. Now, new independent unions are forming and strikes and industrial activity is taking place on a daily basis. More than 30,000 teachers demonstrated outside Parliament in April, forcing the government to grant a 300% wage rise. Dockworkers in Surabaya have formed a union to campaign against piece rates and casual employment. In the first few months of this year, workers from thousands of factories have taken strike action. Farmers in many parts of the country are occupying land. The National Front for Indonesian Workers Struggles (FNPBI) is one of the most significant of the new union formations. Formed in 1999, it is led by Dita Sari, who was a political prisoner of the Suharto regime from 1996 until her release in July 1999. It now has more than 15,000 members, mostly women workers from the textile and garment, food and drink, chemical, pharmaceutical, metalwork and transportation industries. These workers receive on average only R7700 (A$1.50) per day. FNPI are currently campaigning for a minimum 100% pay increase, which would still barely meet basic needs. The government offered a paltry 30% while at the same time giving themselves and senior public servants a 200% increase. The FNPBI achieved their first victory early this year following a campaign among workers at the PT Isanti shoe factory that forced the company to grant 23 of their 25 demands. A strike was organised after many months of discussions with the company failed to achieve any change. The company agreed to raise wages, the abolition of unpaid overtime, payment for public holidays and for May 1 to be a paid holiday. The FNPBI was central to coordinating thousands of students and workers into rallies, demonstrations and strikes on April 1 and on May Day in opposition to the government's plan to increase prices for fuel and electricity. This pressure was crucial to forcing the Wahid government to delay implementating some of its ``reforms''. The FNPBI has called for greater solidarity between Australian and Indonesian workers. In a tour coordinated by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), a group of Australian unionists visited Indonesia to celebrate May Day in Jakarta as guests of the FNPBI. There, among the hundreds of thousands of workers celebrating May Day, they met some of the 1500 workers from the Texmaco factory in Subung, West Java, who had come to highlight their struggle for a 100% wage increase and a shorter working week. An FNPBI leader will visit Australia and speak on issues facing unionists and democracy activists, including the new bill governing trade union rights, and the role unions can play in the debates around globalisation. Please get in touch with ASIET if you are interested in helping out or sponsoring the tour. Public meetings details Melbourne: Sunday August 27, 1-5pm Old Ballroom, Traes Hall, cnr Lygon St and Victoria Pde, Carlton. Ph (03) 9639 8622 Western Sydney: Thurs Sept 31, 6.30pm Resistance Centre, Suite 1 (upstairs), 101 Argyle St, Parramatta. Ph (02) 9687 5134 Sydney: Sat Sept 2, 11a,-5pm, Gaelic Club, 64 Devonshire St, Surry Hills Ph (02) 9690 1032, 9690 1230 Canberra: Mon Sept 6, 6.30pm Manning Clarke Theatre 5, ANU Pg (02) 6247 2424 Brisbane: Wed Sept 6, 7pm, TLC building, 16 Peel St, South Brisbane Ph (07) 3831 2644 For more information about the tour contact ASIET at PO Box 458 Broadway 2007, phone (02) 9690 1230, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit the ASIET website http://www.asiet.org.au. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
