Unionists express their disgust at local government’s failure to look after the interests of workers

Iskarmon Basir

FSP-LEM protests outside the Disnaker    FSP-LEM

Unionists in Batam, a small island on Indonesia’s border with Singapore, had high hopes for regional autonomy. An industrial enclave, Batam’s population of over 700,000 is dominated by factory workers from other parts of Indonesia. We make a big contribution to the local economy, so we think it’s only right that we get a say in how things are run.

When the local parliament, local government and local Manpower office ignored our calls for fairer treatment in the workplace and better community services, the members of the Federation of Metal, Electronic and Mechanical Workers Union’s (FSP-LEM) Muka Kuning branch decided to act. On 21 May 2007, we staged a very special kind of demonstration. We visited the local manpower office, the local parliament and the mayor in turn, bearing gifts that symbolised their failure to take care of workers and their families.

A corpse for the Disnaker

A corpse for a dead Disnaker

Our first stop was the local Disnaker (Manpower office). We began there because we were disappointed with the Disnaker’s appalling lack of action. Under regional autonomy, the Disnaker is the main government body dealing with industrial relations. But instead of protecting workers, the Disnaker allows outsourcing companies to freely trade in human beings.

The Disnaker does so little that it may as well be dead. So we decided to present it with a replica of a corpse in a shroud.

We’d fully support the Disnaker’s efforts if it was trying to develop workers’ skills, but it’s ignoring our rights and allowing us to be enslaved. It has made no effort to stop the rampant misuse of provisions in the labour law for contract work and outsourcing, instead taking the bosses’ side in industrial disputes.

The Disnaker does so little that it may as well be dead. So we decided to present it with a replica of a corpse in a shroud. The corpse symbolised both the Disnaker’s inaction and the future prospects of workers in Batam if outsourcing continues unchecked.

Dismayed Disnaker official receives his gift   FSP-LEM