Indonesia

Indonesia: new president offers nothing to workers

Former Suharto-era general Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono and former Golkar official Yusuf Kalla have been elected as president and vice-president in the second round of Indonesia’s first direct presidential election. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote against outgoing President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s 39%. Neither candidate offered Indonesian workers a voice in politics. Around 33 million registered voters did not vote at all and several million more did not bother to register. This is significant given that it was the first direct presidential election, won after the defeat of the Suharto dictatorship...

Indonesia: fight for an independent union. Workers beaten by riot police

On 8 September 200 police attacked the striking workers of PT Shamrock in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Several workers were injured, also some police. This was the most brutal attempt so far to suppress the building of an alternative union in this factory. The workers at Shamrock produce rubber gloves, for medical use, for a US transnational. By Mick Duncan At first the firm dismissed 14 workers involved in building the new independent union. Now, more than 800 have been laid off because of the solidarity strike. The firm has been working closely with the old state-run union, SPSI, and...

Organising against the bosses... and the unions

Indonesian sweatshop worker on the daily grind The front running candidate in this month's Indonesian Presidential elections, former general Susilo Baubang, may face a run-off election in September. If this so-called "thinking general" wins he will not change the government's commitment to free market economics. The economics which have left 40 million Indonesians unemployed and half of the population of 220 million living on less than US$2 a day. Nenang works in a factory that makes products for several major sportswear companies. He visited Britain recently*. He described the reality of...

Little on offer in Indonesia's general election

By Harry Glass The general elections on 5 April will not provide a solution to the problems faced by the Indonesian people because the majority of political parties are rotten, says the People's Democratic Party (PRD) in Indonesia. The PRD, led by Dita Sari, wanted to stand in the elections as part of the People's United Opposition Party (POPOR), but in October they failed the verification process to be legally registered as a political party. According to Max Lane, writing recently in the Australian socialist paper Green Left Weekly, there seems to be very little popular interest in the...

No Sweat News in brief

Indonesia: textile workers' victory No Sweat discusses Iraq workers' solidarity Women's TUC fringe meeting No Sweat steering group Play Fair Olympics campaign Indonesia: textile workers' victory A significant breakthrough has been made by workers at PT Kahatex Sweaters in Bandung, Indonesia. 537 workers were illegally locked out in May 2003 for demanding they be paid the minimum wage. The company has agreed to re-employ all of the locked-out workers. Two hundred and ten workers have said they wish to be re-employed and the company has agreed work will restart by 1 March. The remaining 287...

Indonesian trade union says: Strike and a world to win!

By the FNPBI The governments of England and the US were the first to introduce neo-liberal economic policies, thanks to Thatcher and Reagan. This exploitative policy subsequently became what's been called "globalisation". Developed countries have succeeded in putting pressure on countries in the third world to open up their markets, implement trade liberalisation to the fullest and cut off subsidies for the poor. This process has been sustained despite the enormous misery ordinary people have to suffer. Blair is also a loyal supporter of neoliberal policies, which would throw hundreds of...

Workers of the world: ROUND UP

South Korea: a summer of discontent Free Brazilian landless workers! General strike in Chile Support locked-out Indonesian workers Protests at WTO Cancun, Mexico South Korea: a summer of discontent Korea's two union umbrella organisations have agreed to step up their fight against the government's controversial five-day working week bill under discussion in the National Assembly (parliament). The independent Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the traditionally pro-government Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) say they will be holding more protests against the bill. Sit-ins...

Workers of the world: ROUND-UP

By Pablo Velasco Bolivian general strike Muchtar Pakpahan to stand in Indonesian elections Good news from Greece Bolivian general strike Bolivia is on the verge of a third uprising in the space of a year - with trade unions calling for an indefinite general strike this month. The uprising in October 2003 led by trade unions, peasant associations and neighbourhood organisations forced President Sanchez de Lozada to resign. The key organisations were the trade union federation COB, the rural workers' union CSTUB and the neighbourhood organisations in La Paz's satellite-city of El Alto. Vice...

Workers of the world: ROUND-UP

by Pablo Velasco Indonesian party fights for legal recognition Hong Kong: Article 23 postponed Korean unions to stand in parliamentary elections Yale University strike General strike in Bangladesh Colombian Coca-Cola workers face the sack Indonesian party fights for legal recognition The Party of United People's Opposition (POPOR) in Indonesia is fighting to be registered as a legal political party in time for next year's elections. To be granted legal recognition the party, which includes socialists and trade unionists and is led by Dita Sari, must prove that it has branches in at least half...

Workers of the World: ROUND-UP

People's United Opposition Party launched in Indonesia Guatemalaen maquila workers' victory Victory in the Hyundai strike Sri Lankan trade unionists under attack Yao Fuxin and Xio Yunliang moved to labour camp Brazil pension reform sparks workers protest People's United Opposition Party launched in Indonesia The left in Indonesia has launched a new political party, in preparation for the 2004 election. At the end of July around 300 representatives from more than 50 organisations founded the People's United Opposition Party (Partai Persatuan Oposisi Rakyat, or Popor). Dita Sari was elected the...

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