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12 March, 2015Thirty union leaders from the IndustriALL Indonesia Council gathered at a National Unity Meeting in Jakarta from 23 to 25 February 2015 to plan for the year ahead.
Twelve women and 18 men representing 11 national federations from the metal, mining, textile-garment, pharmacy, oil and gas sectors were joined by Suzanna Miller and Armelle Seby from IndustriALL Global Union’s head office in Geneva, as well as Vonny Diananto, from IndustriALL South East Asia’s Singapore Office, IndustriALL project coordinators, Aranya Phakaphat and Yoon Hyowon, and Ann-Helene Westrup from Unionen in Sweden.
At the meeting, the Indonesian unionists discussed the country’s labour situation, collective bargaining, organizing, precarious work and IndustriALL policy and activities in 2015 at global and regional levels. Ann-Helene Westrup from Unionen in Sweden made a presentation on Swedish trade union figures and the Swedish Model of collective agreements.
In 2014, IndustriALL Indonesian council’s women’s committee launched a national campaign on maternity protection for all women workers in Indonesia with the taglines “14 Weeks” and “Stop Check Menstruation Blood”. The campaign is demanding that collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) increase maternity leave to 14 weeks (it is now 12 weeks) and insisting that employers stop checking women for blood when they want to take menstruation leave. Women in Indonesia have a legal right to take one or two day’s leave during menstruation with a doctor’s note. However, employers do not have a right to carry out the humiliating process of checking women for physical signs of their period.
The women’s committee also urged the Indonesian government to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Convention 183 on maternity protection.
“This year we will continue to spread the campaign across the nation and develop the model CBA articles on maternity protection and disseminate them to unions at plant level. We will work together with the women committees of 11 federations,” said Lilis Mahmudah, chair of the Indonesian Women Committee.
The national unity meeting also highlighted the issue of precarious workers in Indonesia. “The situation of state-owned companies outsourcing workers is no better in the private sector. We established the campaign drive “GEBER BUMN” to urge the Indonesian government to change the employment status of outsourced workers into permanent staff, so now we need more effort and support from all affiliates to reach the goal,” said Judy Winarno and Riswan Lubis from Metal and Mining Federations.
The national unity meeting also opened a discussion around the controversial regulation on the Presidential Decree (No 63 of 2004) and the Ministry of Industry Decree (No 446 of 2014) on the so-called “National Vital Objects” on industry and energy mining sectors. The regulation will harm basic labour rights by “securing” police and military interference in industrial relations.
The Indonesian affiliates voiced their alarm over the new legislation: “We will closely monitor the use of the regulations and create a campaign team within the structure of the IndustriALL National Council to repeal the decrees.”
The Indonesian leaders took the opportunity of the unity meeting to make priorities for 2015 through activities such as better collective bargaining agreements, organizing, campaigning, national advocacy, protecting and organizing precarious workers, and having structural reform towards strong upper-level unions for the effective role of federations.
“Now, we have the 2015 calendar in which all the project and activities of IndustriALL are combined and integrated through the collective works of the affiliate leaders. I am convinced and optimistic that the IndustriALL Indonesia Council will play an important role in building solidarity and maintaining unity among IndustriALL affiliates in Indonesia,” said Sjaiful Patombong in his closing statements.