ORGANISING PRECARIOUS WORKERS IN INDONESIA

Text & Photos / Kristyne Peter

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Ridwin Monoarfa, Vice President of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers' Union (FSPMI) stands before a group of workers at a small hotel outside of Batam city limits. With one hand in the air and the other holding a microphone, he asks the workers to show him their fingers. "One finger cannot do much on its own you see," he says wiggling his fingers, "but when your thumb and your finger work together, WOW, all of a sudden you can do things," he picks up an imaginary pen in front of him. "Let me see everyones hands, he instructs, let me see you try to push it up into the air," the workers thrust open hands towards the ceiling, "you don t feel anything do you? people shake their heads. Now bring those individual fingers into a fist, he says, can you start to feel the power?" The crowd shouts enthusiastically, "YES!" He punches the air, and the workers do the same. "Can t you see that? Can t you see that change? If we are united, we are powerful. And if you unite into a union, you will feel that change."

It's the FSPMI Organising Road Show, an innovative approach to organising workers from the estimated 800 multinational companies that are housed in 25 heavily guarded Export Processing Zones (EPZ) on Indonesias Batam Island, a massive electronics manufacturing hub just 20 kilometres from Singapores southern coast. New members and potential members are bussed in from EPZs in the area for an afternoon of union songs, speeches, socialising and strategy. It is an opportunity for workers to speak freely about complaints they might have at work, ask questions about the union, and interact with fellow workers. Fitria Ningsih, aged 27, is an outsourced operator at Sanwa Engineering and has come to the Road Show to learn more about the union and meet other new members. In her opinion, the union has been key in helping contract workers gain government benefits and avoid termination. "We have a contract every three months. By the third extension of our contract we are moved to a labour agency for a month, and then contracted again for another three months," she explains, adding "they do this to keep us from becoming permanent workers." For Fitria, union membership means the possibility of securing permanent work. "I joined the union because I wanted help to change my status from contract to permanent."

A major challenge for unions in Indonesia, and specifically unions organising workers in EPZs, is the rampant proliferation of contracted and outsourced labour. According to Lomenik SBSI, there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of workers now employed precariously since 2005. Lomenik estimates that 70 per cent of the country's workforce is precariously employed, while FSPMI predicts that in Batam that number is much higher, speculating that 98 per cent of all workers in Batam are hired on contract or outsourced through a labour agency.

EPZs are defined areas of a country where government regulation, taxes and trade tariffs are lifted or dramatically reduced in an effort to attract foreign investment. The lack of regulation in EPZs comes at a great cost to workers' rights, health and safety, environmental standards and social protections. The government goes to great lengths to ensure that rights do not interfere with profits. Union organising in such areas is extremely difficult and potentially dangerous

A GATED LIFE

Driving towards Batamindo industrial complex, Batam's largest EPZ which hosts 80 companies and employs some 60,000 to 80,000 workers, little kiosks selling everything from hairdos to used clothing line the street. Behind the storefronts, narrow foot paths lead to tin and wooden shanties which house the poorest workers. The massive industrial complex is protected by heavy iron bars with razor wire running along the top. To enter and leave you must pass a guarded security check point and provide identification. Inside the billion dollar complex, corporate buildings of the world's biggest brand names, complete with polished chrome lettering and tinted glass, loom large amidst the well-paved streets and manicured lawns. Many workers never leave the industrial park. They live in company housing, go to the company shops, visit the company clinic and pray at the company mosque. It is a caged existence.

Miyanti, aged 25, has worked for Kemet, formerly Revox Co., for almost three years. She shares a dormitory provided by the company with 15 other women. The women sleep in bunk beds in one room and share a kitchen, bathroom and small sitting room with simple homemade furniture. Company housing looks like a cross between military barracks and a college dormitory. At shift change or call to prayer, "the campus" is teeming with young workers heading back to their dormitories or heading out to the factory. In 2005, Miyanti was recruited by a labour agency and assigned to a two year contract with then Revox. The agency paid for her travel to Batam and took care of her documentation. She hopes that at the end of three years, she will be made permanent. One of six children, Miyanti comes from a family of farmers in Central Java who rely on the 500,000Rp (US$53.85) she sends home each month. She makes the minimum wage of 960,000Rp (US$104.65) per month but often works overtime which increases her monthly wage to an average of 1,400,000Rp (US$152.70). The company operates three shifts: 7am to 3pm; 3pm to 11pm; and 11pm to 7am. Workers are paid an extra 4,000Rp (US$0.44) if they work the night shift, and shifts are assigned on a weekly basis

Most of Batams EPZ workers are just like Miyanti. Eighty per cent of them are young women between the ages of 19 and 25, who travel long distances, leaving behind family to come to Batam in hopes of work. For most workers, there is an expectation to send money home to the family, where wages are even lower in the countryside. The average amount workers send home is around 500,000Rp (US$54.54) per month, or more than half the average workers' monthly wage.

Ironically, while the pressure to make money and keep ones job is the main reason workers are afraid to join a union, it has also become the unions' major allure

STRATEGY THAT WORKS

For an EPZ contract worker, the two most important issues are to secure a decent wage and permanent work. "Everyone wants to be a permanent worker," explains Agun Wyrianto Gunawan, a contracted debt collector for Suzuki. "Because by being a permanent worker it would be a brighter future, for example if I have a family I would need benefits."

Agun is at the Lomenik Batam office to find out more about his rights as a worker. He is considering joining the union.

"I would like to have a union organisation that can help me get the overtime pay that I know I am entitled to," says Agun who is paid to work from 8:30am until 4:30pm, but often works as late as 9:30pm each night without pay.

Competition for jobs is brutal and many workers complain of being considered too old and slow at the age of 25. Many companies intentionally deny workers additional training or skills development to avert expectations of future permanent work. Meanwhile, families rely on the extra money sent home each month.

In addressing the needs of EPZ workers, FSPMI and Lomenik independently set out strategies to increase womens participation at all levels of the union, work to change the status of contract workers to permanent, increase political influence in the decision making bodies that regulate minimum wage and labour policy, negotiate collective agreements that decrease the number of contracted workers and mobilise around the issue.

"We decided that in order to recruit more members, we had to involve women as officers," explained Baris Silitonga, an organiser for the FSPMI Batam branch. "This helped us organise the women workers in the EPZs who make up the majority of the workers. We have implemented 30 per cent participation of women in all of Indonesia," Baris said referring to a 2006 FSPMI Congress decision to amend the unions constitution ensuring 30 per cent womens participation at all levels of the union.

Under Indonesian law, contract workers employed at the same company are entitled to permanent work status after three years. Both unions have fought hard in the courts (and won) to ensure that workers unfairly dismissed just prior to three years are reinstated as permanent employees. The unions also negotiate collective bargaining agreements that move all outsourced workers, those hired through labour agencies and who are more vulnerable to rights abuses, onto contracts negotiated directly with the principal employer. It's a slow process but has had enormous gains for the workers.

"FSPMI and Lomenik have been the most successful of our affiliates anywhere in the world at organising EPZ workers," said Jenny Holdcroft, Director for Equality and EPZs for the International Metalworkers' Federation. "Given the well-documented difficulties of organising these workers, it is understandable that unions with limited resources put their organising efforts elsewhere. But the Indonesian example is so important because it shows that with determination and the right strategies, it is possible to organise EPZ workers and improve their working conditions."

Jenny points out that both unions' success is largely due to an overall commitment to strategic organising. "They have seen that there are huge numbers of potential members in EPZs and they have put their time and resources into targeting them and as a result they have seen their unions grow - not only in terms of numbers, but in political strength. They have been able to do this as they are national unions - decisions are taken at national level on where best to direct resources. They work in cooperation with each other, sharing strategies and experiences - they do not compete for members or status."

Both unions are also actively engaged in supporting candidates for parliament that represent workers' interests. FSPMI, the larger of the two metal unions, is lobbying for a seat on the highly influential EPZ Council in Batam, which at the moment is comprised of only businessmen and members of parliament. The FSPMI is pressing the EPZ Council for more regulation to ensure the observation of International Labour Organization Conventions within all industrial zones. When the union proposed to the Council that contract workers get paid more than permanent workers and receive health care coverage up to six months after termination, a Singapore businessman responded, "This is just a ploy to get us to hire more permanent workers!"

ORGANISING EPZ WORKERS

Cece "Nora" Sgotia came by herself to Batam from West Sumatra in 2006. It wasn't easy, for the first three months she stayed with friends who supported her until she found work at a shipbuilding company, PT Aatech Marines and later an electronics company, PT Leo, where she is currently on a six-month contract.

At the age of 30, Nora isn't your average EPZ worker. The eldest of four, she graduated from law school at the prestigious University of Andalas where she became interested in women's rights. She joined Lomenik a year ago and began to learn about the rights of workers and in particular the rights of women workers. Training from the union, coupled with her studies at university, led her to become an organiser for the union. "Many of the workers here are women and many of them don't know their rights. There are cases where if they get pregnant they'll get sacked. I wanted to educate other women about their rights. Women were surprised to know they even had rights. I had to teach the women that being in an association is not violating any law, they are afraid they will lose their jobs if they join the union. But after our discussions these women were willing to join the union."

Nora is on her way to meet with two women workers to talk about joining the union. She explains that most of her organising comes from setting up social calls with fellow workers on weekends, afternoons and holidays. Walking down the dusty street, lined with little houses painted tropical colours of pink, blue, yellow and green, she explains that the community where she lives is very open to the union, something she says comes from taking the time to talk to her neighbours about the positive things unions bring to communities.

When Nora arrives, the women workers are afraid to come out and meet the rest of the international delegation. With gentle prodding the women slowly appear from behind a curtain that serves as a door between the sitting room and the kitchen. Tiurismawti, aged 23, has been producing electronics connectors for five months on a one-year contract with Schneider Electric. She came from North Sumatra with her cousins in 2004. She says the working conditions are good and she likes the company, although the wages are "a bit lacking". Tiurismawti works Monday through Saturday from 6am until 1pm. She makes 1,100,000Rp (US$120) per month and also receives social security, healthcare and overtime pay. Her father is a farmer and she sends money home each month when she can, she worries about what will happen when her contract expires. The other woman, Kristin Suastri, aged 22, also comes from North Sumatra. She worked for a year at PCI Electronics until her contract expired and was not renewed. She doesn't know what she is going to do.

FSPMI has a few small cooperative businesses for members in between contracts or out of work. The businesses include motorcycle maintenance, a hair salon, laundry services and tailoring. Workers can also volunteer to teach children in poverty stricken areas basic education.

Ery Istiawan, aged 29, has worked at PT Casio Electronic Indonesia for almost six years. He met his wife, Widya Pertiwi, a former Casio worker, in front of the company lockers four years ago. Ery is an FSPMI organiser and union officer at the plant level, having joined the union in 2004. To Ery the workshop training he received from FSPMI, IMF and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)'s Solidarity Center gave him the tools to be a good organiser. "I started to understand there were so many wrong doings committed by the company. There should be many workers' unions in these areas, in every company, and that these workers must be united." Of course, organising in EPZs has its risks. While Ery has never been threatened, he is sure he has been passed over for promotions because of his union activism. Widya worries that the company will fire Ery for trade unionism. "I have to be very careful," Ery explains, "because I have to be an example."

Ery started out as a contract worker and after three years he was made permanent. He considers himself lucky. "I have friends from other companies, and these companies do not give social security, in fact they are conducting outsourcing and breaking the law in terms of wages. We have a minimum wage regulation here, but these companies do not want to apply it."

Ery, his wife and two children live in a modest one bedroom house in a residential area outside the massive industrial complex. Still, he asks his fellow union members not to laugh at his home when they see it. Ridwin Monoarfa grabs Ery's shoulder and explains, "If we laugh, it is because we are happy for you that you have a house and a roof and a place to call home, many workers don't even have these basic things."

MOVING FORWARD

For FSPMI, organising workers in Batam got its start at the Banana Leaf Coffee Shop back in 2001. Union members at the time met secretly with mid-level managers at key companies inside Batamindo EPZ and mapped out a plan. Since that time, FSPMI has organised 25,000 EPZ workers in Batam and Lomenik has organised 24,000. Last year alone between the two unions, 12,000 EPZ workers joined a union and 17 new plant level branches were established. Much of their work in the EPZs has been supported by the IMF and Swedish affiliates IF Metall and SIF through the EPZ Organising Project that was started in 2006.

Both FSPMI and Lomenik have mapped out new EPZ locations throughout the country and will begin new organising initiatives there in 2009. Meanwhile the IMF is assisting in the exchange of information and ideas in hopes that these strategies may be applied to other countries in the region and around the world.

"EPZ organising will remain paramount to the work of the IMF in this region," says Arunasalam, IMF Southeast Asia-Pacific regional representative, pointing out, "today, EPZ workers in Batam enjoy trade union protection, their conditions of employment and wages have improved greatly, there is trade union representation at the plant level, an organised workforce is now a trend setter for the unorganised in terms of wages and conditions of employment and we have for the first time carried out large scale organising at a selected EPZ and have met success. This experience could be shared with EPZ workers in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam."

While each union must develop its own strategies for the particular challenges it faces regarding organising workers, there are many features of EPZ employment that present common challenges to unions throughout the world. The success of Indonesia's organising efforts is immensely significant to IMF work in that the conditions under which EPZ workers toil are no longer confined within gated industrial parks or maquilas. Indeed more and more unions around the world are witnessing the erosion of good jobs - be it conditions, wages, or job security.

"We are seeing this model of employment spread beyond EPZs and the electronics industry into other industries. IMF's work on precarious employment has shown how the growth in temporary and contract work is threatening secure employment everywhere," notes Jenny Holdcroft. "It is vitally important that unions everywhere acquire the expertise to be able to organise these workers - the very survival of some affiliates already depends on this. EPZs are not isolated "no-go" areas for unions -they are the model for future work patterns under globalisation."

While the unions in Indonesia are very aware that they are fighting an uphill battle, they also know this is a battle that must be fought. As Jazuli, a Lomenik organiser put it, "We know, if we don't make efforts towards correcting the situation for precarious workers, it will get worse. This is a life long struggle and if we don't start fighting now, just imagine what will happen?"