Read this article in:
1 August, 2000After having met the striking Indonesian workers at Sony, IMF general secretary Marcello Malentacchi is convinced that they will succeed in finding a solution.
INDONESIA: Under IMF Opinion, Marcello Malentacchi, IMF general secretary, writes that for the Indonesian union SPMI the conflict with Sony has been a crucial one.
"Their struggle has exposed a darker side of this Japanese TNC. 1,100 workers, 80 per cent of whom are young women, have taken up the fight against a big TNC to defend their working conditions. They have been on strike for the last two and a half months, and recently the company received approval from the Indonesian government to fire the strikers. The IMF intervened with both the company and the Indonesian government and succeeded in restarting negotiations," relates Malentacchi.
"After having met the strikers in Indonesia and talking to them, I am confident that they will succeed. It is the first time that a Japanese company in Indonesia has been so exposed and put on the defensive," continues the IMF general secretary.
"The IMF's primary goal is to build up strong and united trade unions, and that is why it is so important to inform everyone of the Indonesian experience. But quite apart from the outcome of these two struggles, it is very clear to me that the Indonesian trade union movement is strengthening because it is democratic, independent and representative."
Click on the associated link to read the entire column.
"Their struggle has exposed a darker side of this Japanese TNC. 1,100 workers, 80 per cent of whom are young women, have taken up the fight against a big TNC to defend their working conditions. They have been on strike for the last two and a half months, and recently the company received approval from the Indonesian government to fire the strikers. The IMF intervened with both the company and the Indonesian government and succeeded in restarting negotiations," relates Malentacchi.
"After having met the strikers in Indonesia and talking to them, I am confident that they will succeed. It is the first time that a Japanese company in Indonesia has been so exposed and put on the defensive," continues the IMF general secretary.
"The IMF's primary goal is to build up strong and united trade unions, and that is why it is so important to inform everyone of the Indonesian experience. But quite apart from the outcome of these two struggles, it is very clear to me that the Indonesian trade union movement is strengthening because it is democratic, independent and representative."
Click on the associated link to read the entire column.