IUF logo; clicking here returns you to the home page.
IUF
Uniting Food, Farm and Hotel Workers World-Wide


Stop Union-Busting Now - Defend Indonesian Sugar Workers' Federation!

Posted to the IUF website 04-Aug-2005

Share this article.



As of August 1, members of the independent sugar workers' federation have been demonstrating in front of the Jakarta office of PT Gunung Madu Plantation, Indonesia's largest sugar cane and mill complex. Their outdoor encampment was joined by members of the IUF-affiliated hotel and tourism workers federation and supported by IUF affiliates in 5 cities in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (see News story).


Since the fall of the military dictatorship in 1998, Indonesian sugar workers have been steadily seeking to free themselves from the grip of the Suharto-era yellow unions which were forcibly imposed after 1965. The IUF has been deeply involved in the process of building independent unions in the sector. Twenty-four local unions from private and state-owned mills, plantations and sugar distilleries came together in February this year to launch the new federation, representing over 14,000 workers. The federation resolved to affiliate internationally to the IUF (the affiliation was approved by the IUF in April). The response by employers and the government was brutal and immediate.

At the FSPM TG founding convention in February, Daud Sukamto was elected President and Legimin (like many Indonesians, he has only one name) General Secretary. Daud works at the Gunung Madu Plantation in Central Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia's largest sugar cane and mill complex which employs close to 13,000 workers at peak season. Gunung Madu is 45% owned by Robert Kuok's Hong Kong-based Kuok Investment Group, with the remainder held by two companies controlled by Suharto family and cronies. Until March this year, Daud headed the local union at Gunung Madu.

On March 14, Daud - who had announced at the convention that his local union would be leaving the SPSI (Suharto-era union) to assure its independence - was suspended from his position as union officer by officials of the regional SPSI. One week later, he was suspended from his job, a typical example of three-way collusion between employer, yellow union and the government.

Government support is necessary to bust unions in Indonesia, because employers must request official authorization to dismiss workers. Gunung Madu Plantation management wanted Daud dismissed to weaken the union. The SPSI wanted Daud dismissed because an independent union would deprive them of their role as enforcers of labour discipline. And the government wanted Daud dismissed, because it fears trade union independence, and because the government of Indonesia is itself the owner of a number of sugar plantations and mills which form part of the PTPN agricultural complexes.

Daud's dismissal was upheld in a June 21 ruling of the Lampung P4D, the "tripartite" dispute resolution settlement committee whose only labour component is representatives of the yellow unions. The P4D ruled that Daud should be fired, effective at the end of June, for having committed "gross misconduct" in advising Gunung Madu workers in January to reject management's proposal for the biannual wage increase. The P4D ignored a ruling by the country's Constitutional Court that the law permitting dismissal on these grounds was unconstitutional and required amendment. It ignored testimony that workers at the plantation had almost unanimously rejected the increase as inadequate and needed no particular "incitement" from the union, just as it ignored the fact that under pressure from the plantation's private security service the union had quickly withdrawn its initial recommendation to reject the increase. It likewise ignored an earlier statement to the FSPM that the "gross misconduct" charge lay outside its jurisdiction and was a matter that the employer could only pursue in a criminal court proceeding. The P4D also accepted the employers' allegation that Daud's involvement with the IUF showed further evidence of "gross misconduct". It simply rubberstamped the dismissal, as it has always done.

No P4D decision to dismiss workers at the employer's request has ever been overturned through the appeals process.

The workers are not only fighting back by reconstituting their locals and resisting management pressure at the workplace. On August 1, a large contingent of sugar workers traveled 16 hours by bus to Jakarta. Joined by members of the IUF-affiliated hotel, restaurant and tourism workers' federation FSPM, they are demonstrating at the Gunung Madu management headquarters, where they have set up camp to highlight their demand for Daud's reinstatement and an end to union-busting. The demonstration, taking place across the street from the offices of the Jakarta Governor and the Jakarta Parliament office, has attracted the attention of the main print and broadcast media in Indonesia.

The IUF has lodged a complaint against the government of Indonesia with the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association, but the process is slow. IUF members in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have shown solidarity by sending delegations to Indonesian embassies and diplomatic representations on August 2 to support the Jakarta action and demand an end to union-busting.

The government needs to know that unions and rights advocates internationally support the FSPM TG, the independent sugar workers' union which is at a decisive stage in its struggle. Tell the government of Indonesia to act now to

  • Reinstate Daud Sukamto at his job at Gunung Madu
    Plantation!

  • Cease all harassment of the FSPM TG!

  • Respect the democratic right of all Indonesian workers to join the trade union of their choice and to bargain collectively without intimidation!


Sample message text:


To: Mr. Fahmi Idris, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Fax: +62 21 7974488

with copies to

The Minister of State-Owned Companies
Fax: +62 21 34831778

Mr. Jimmy Mahsun, General Manager, Gunung Madu Plantation
Plantation office fax: +62 725 561800
Head office fax: +62 21 3142159

Dear Sir,

Trade union representatives of employees at the privately-owned Gunung Madu Sugar Plantation in Central Lampung, Southern Sumatra, and the state-owned enterprises PTPN X and PTPN XI founded an independent trade union federation in February this year, the FSPM TG, in conformity with all legal requirements. Since the federation was established, there has been an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against union members and officers.

FSPM TG Pesident Daud Sukamto was fired from his job, at the request of the Gunung Madu management, on June 21 after having been suspended almost immediately following his election as FSPM TG President. The decision to authorize his dismissal was taken by the Lampung P4D in violation of the Constitutional Court ruling earlier this year that the legal arguments for dismissal cited by employers in cases like this were unconstitutional. The relevant sections of the Manpower Act, however, have not been revised in accordance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court, and the case of Daud Sukamto indicates that politically motivated dismissals in fact continue. Daud was fired, as the employers themselves indicated in their presentation to the P4D, for attempting to exercise his legitimate mandate as a trade union representative on behalf of the Gunung Madu employees in negotiations for a wage increase. Dismissal on these grounds is a flagrant violation of Indonesia's obligations under international treaty law.

Workplace unit local unions at PTPN X have also been ceaselessly harassed by management. Under management pressure, workplace union representatives have resigned from the FSPM TG, obliging workers to reconstitute their local unions and reaffirm their support for FSPM TG, a process which is now under way. PTPN X management has also transferred FSPM TG General Secretary Legimin from his job in a sugar mill to the head office in Surabaya, a move which is widely viewed by industry employees as part of an ongoing pattern of anti-union intimidation.

We urge your government to immediately take all necessary action to assure that these rights violations are halted and industrial relations in the sugar industry are established on a new foundation of respect for international standards and democratic norms. Reinstatement of Daud Sukamto to his job at Gunung Madu and an end to all forms of harassment and intimidation against FSPM TG members and elected officers are the standards by which we will measure progress in this area.

Yours sincerely,

Kindly send copies of your messages to the IUF at [email protected] (or fax +41 22 793 22 38) and to the IUF Indonesia office at [email protected].

We thank you in advance for your solidarity and support!