Government and big business conspire against Indonesian workers
Apple Corporation contractor Foxconn, infamous for its deplorable working conditions in China, now appears to be undermining civil freedoms in Indonesia.
After the announcement of plans for a multi-billion-dollar factory at the Marunda Export Processing Zone in north Jakarta, a highly unusual security deal was struck with the Indonesian military on behalf of foreign-owned factories.
The agreement provides for the deployment of 60 soldiers to the factory complex for a period of three years. The troops will be responsible for training and supervising private security services – an arrangement reminiscent of the repressive Suharto era, when military and state conspired to violently suppress workers forming unions or asserting their rights.
Suharto’s discredited 32-year authoritarian rule was ended by popular revolt. The dictator resigned in ignominy in May 1998, opening the possibility of reform and demilitarisation.
The relative freedoms have provided space for unions to organise and support workers. Unionisation rates, though low, are rising rapidly, and independent unions – ones that are not an extension of management – are starting to make headway in many industries.
Yet worker activists continue to face intimidation, persecution and dismissal when they fight for workplace rights. Almost every campaign for union recognition is harassed by some combination of union-busting tactics.
The presence of soldiers will completely change the atmosphere in the factory zone, adding to the difficulty of building unions and making it much easier for employers to disregard workers’ rights.
The security agreement, signed on 21 May, is not the first or only case of military interference in civil affairs in the current era. However, it is the most glaring because its purpose is to please global giants Foxconn and Apple, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer and the world’s largest corporation, respectively.
Foxconn has indicated that it is looking for more security and favourable terms before making a final commitment to opening a factory in Indonesia, particularly after anti-Chinese riots forced its Vietnam factory to close.
Labour lawyer Emma Liliefna considers the agreement ominous, a trial balloon for Indonesian industrialists and right wing politicians, who are likely to seek similar deals with the military if the Marunda agreement goes unchallenged.
“It has the appearance of a pilot project and, if successful, it will be used in industrial enclaves all over Indonesia”, says Liliefna, who is public relations officer of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (K-SBSI), Indonesia’s most successful independent union.
She adds that the Indonesian president and government may attempt to quell the growing union movement, especially if the new president, who will be elected in July, is from a military background.
The stakes are high. Indonesian voters face a choice between law and order candidate Prabowo Subianto and reformer Jakarta Mayor Joko Widodo. The elections are likely to affect the fate of a repressive parliamentary bill allowing for military intervention in civil affairs, which is stalled for now, but could be enacted by the next government as it remains active in the legislative process.
The bill provides for military force to be used at workers’ demonstrations specifically. “If enacted by the next government, [the bill] would mean the death of the trade union movement”, says Liliefna.
