4 March, 2014IndustriALL’s Indonesian affiliate FSP2KI leads the struggle against Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) after the company illegally broke off collective bargaining talks and called in the local army and police to intimidate workers against supporting the union in West Java.
FSP2KI’s branch level union the Pindo Deli Paper Workers Union SPKPD began a one-month strike on 27 February to protest the breakdown of collective bargaining due to company intransigence and the escalating tension caused by deployment of local army and police to the factory.
APP is a market leader worldwide with a history of anti worker tactics at its PT Pindo Deli’s twin mills in Karawang, West Java, one of the world’s largest paper mills. IndustriALL affiliate FSP2KI organizes well over half the 13,000 employees there, and had to strike to win the current collective agreement two years ago.
Management has rejected all union proposals during four failed bargaining rounds, with troops intimidating workers since before the first round in December 2013.
IndustriALL Global Union sent a protest letter to APP management urging them to sit down at the negotiating table and stop using military forces against the participants of the strike. The company was urged to fulfil the regulations concerning the principles of negotiations in the district of Karawang, and withdraw the troops from Pindo Deli territory. IndustriALL has also protested the use of scab replacement workers brought in to undermine the strike.
“IndustriALL will monitor the situation and continue to support our sisters and brothers in their fight for their just demands,” said Anatoly Surin, IndustriALL pulp and paper director.
The strike will continue until 28 March. Letters of protest can be sent to the APP Indonesian management, using the petition tool attached to this page. Join the international trade union support for striking FSP2KI workers and tell the company that these workers deserve fair wages and basic rights at work.