Indonesia Calling

Indonesian dockworkers neck 20 kilo bags of cement, Sunda Kelapa, Jakarta

Australian maritime workers were the first to impose bans on Dutch ships during the Indonesian struggle for independence (1945-49) So began a long history of solidarity between Indonesian and Australian maritime unions.
This special report examines the union relationship, the plight of maritime workers of our northern neighbour and a call from the newly elected chair of the ITF Asia Pacific region for renewed solidarity action

PORTS OF CONVENIENCE

Adang has worked on the Jakarta docks since 1962.
Nothing much has changed. Ships come and ships go.
When they come he gets paid to do the lashing work. If
they don’t there’s no work and no pay.
“It’s always been the same,” said Adang. “Low wages. Each shift
we get 62,000 Rupiah (US$6.20). If there’s no ship, there’s no
work and no money.
“I’m a day labourer,” he said. “It’s hard. Some weeks, there are
two ships. Some weeks there’s none. There’s no other work.
Those of us with motorbikes use them as taxis to earn enough to
get by. Otherwise we’re unemployed. We get some health cover.
But if we have to get treatment we usually only get a portion
back – about half. I have two wives and seven children.”
“There’s not enough to pay for my kids’ school,” said Muchtar
who’s worked at Tanjung Priok since 1972 when he was 19.
‘There’s not even really enough for food.”
It’s not that there’s no union covering Indonesia’s estimated two
million dockworkers in its 600 ports and nine container
terminals. There’s too many – five at Tanjung Priok terminal
alone. And only two are unions as we know them.
Towering above Adang and Muchtar on the portainer cranes are
workers who earn around Rupiah 5 million (US$500) a month.
Employed by the Hutchinson/government joint ventures TPK
Koja and adjoining Jakarta International Container Terminal,
they are the only ITF affiliated unions and they’re not afraid to
down tools if necessary.
Two years ago ITF Indonesia co-ordinator Hanafi Rustandi took
the microphone at a ceremony to mark May Day (and a
breakdown in contract negotiations). “Down your tools”, he
shouted.
STRIKE EFFECTIVE
“All activities at the port were halted,”
Jakarta Post reported. “Thousands of
workers bowed their heads while ships,
container cranes and trucks switched on
their headlamps and blew their horns.”
“The strike lasted just 10 minutes but it
has been effective,” said Hanafi. “We may
have lost 10 minutes but our employers
and the government suffered billions of
rupiah in losses. Some may call it sabotage
but we have the right to strike and it is
part of our bargaining power.”
POCS CAMPAIGN
After the launch of the ITFs
campaign against “ports of
convenience” (POCs) in 2006,
dockers’ unions focused on achieving
global minimum standards for labour
rights, health and safety worldwide.
MUA National Secretary Paddy
Crumlin, as chair of the ITF dockers
section has led the ITF initiative
with section secretary Frank Leys.
The ITF dockers section
secretariat organised a series of
regional strategy seminars
including Jakarta. National
officers Jim Tannock and Rick
Newlyn attended meetings in Jakarta in
2006 and 2008. The regional seminars
identified five key themes for campaigning
– casualisation, competition, Global
Network Terminal (GNT) operators,
privatisation and trade union rights.
“The Maritime Union really helped start
reforming the Indonesian ports,” said
Hanafi. “The 2006 seminar came a year
after the Jakarta terminal unions formed
and they all attended the seminar. Jim
gave examples of how the MUA
organizes and its struggles. He
inspired the port union delegates
to take a stand against the
company in the collective agreement
negotiations at the Jakarta terminals
that were about to get under way.
As a result the workers were
prepared to take action and got a
good outcome.”
“We went on strike in order to
address our demands,” said TPK
Koja Secretary Irwan Setiabudi.
“We won. The ITF fully support our strike and demands. Solidarity
from other countries came to my union through the ITF. Their
support made us confident to strike. We struck for two hours.
But this May we just threatened to strike and they agreed to our
demands.”
This time the company promised to deliver by the year’s end.
For now they are happy.
Irwan Setiabudi says it’s the solidarity of his members which has
been the key to the union’s success.
That and union training. The union was formed in 1999. They
now earn double. As well as the wage they get a five per cent
share in profit around Christmas – up from three per cent.
That’s five per cent of Rupiah 100 billion.
“Our members will get 25 million Rupiah – $2,500 each – for
Christmas,” he said. “Maybe we could share it with the other
workers.”
POC DATABASE
Rod Pickette, MUA also worked with the ITF in the
development of a POC database, providing information,
statistics and network links that could be applied to dockers
organising and campaigning initiatives all around the world,
contributing financial and other resources.
The ITF hopes the POC database helps affiliates gain a better
understanding of the GNTs that operate terminals. Where an
affiliate is negotiating or having problems with a particular
GNT, the database will indicate what other transport and/or
logistics operations the company is involved in and where. It will
show their global ranking, their global throughput; and in what
ports their terminals operate – all potentially vital information to
back up a trade union campaign.
Indonesia has not been hit hard by the recession and now boasts
a five per cent growth rate according to the Jakarta press. But
Business Indonesia also reports that growth has not translated
into improvement of unemployment and poverty for the vast
majority of workers.
SAME WORK, DIFFERENT MONEY
“Our wages are different. Why must they be different? We do
the same work,” said Tulis, a truck driver at the terminal. “I
understand if there is a bit of difference, but not like this.
US$200 a month is not enough for driving heavy equipment.”
ONE BIG UNION?
“Maybe. As long as it serves the workers,” said Tulis. “Some
unions just look for their own profit and leave us behind.”
John Wood of the ITF is based in Jakarta to work on the Ports
of Convenience campaign. But he is up against an entrenched
system. Even dealing with the ITF affiliate JICTU is complex.
Its last two union leaders have since been recruited into
management.
An estimated two million casual port workers are covered by the
national dockworkers union SBMI and the ITF is working to
modernise the union. Wages are supposed to be based on a share
of the profits but little is distributed.
SBTKBM is the Jakarta union covering Adang and Muchtar.
“We are the cheapest dock workers in the world,” said Secretary
General Yusron Effendi. “We have yet to succeed in improving
the standard of the workers. We must struggle to improve the
status of workers first. But it is hard to strike because there are
four unions, not one.”
“All workers join the union,” he said. “The problem is we have
to struggle to improve our status. I can drive a crane. But I don’t
get the opportunity. The work should be based on skills.”
If the plight of Adang and Muchtar is woeful, that of the wharf
labourers at the traditional port, Sunda Kelapa, takes us back a
century to the Hungry Mile.
See them necking 20 kilo bags of cement along a narrow
wooden plank onto the wooden sailing vessels that ply the coast
and inter-island trade. They tell us they are paid 8,500 Rupiah
(US85 cents) per tonne.
“The government and employers can no longer adopt a cheap
labour policy to attract foreign investors as it has in the past,”
Hanafi told the local press.
“It would be better for the government to eliminate rampant
corruption and red tape in bureaucracy, revise the investment
and tax laws, repair damaged infrastructure and enforce the law
to provide certainty for workers.”

SEE ALSO
HANAFI RUSTANDI, The newly elected chair of the ITF Asia Pacific region calls for Australia to
head a regional workers’ delegation to confront local governments and
demand minimum wages for transport workers.
p35

"The poor live off the refuse of the rich. Our
people are so poor they live like rats, searching
for food wherever they can find it.
Whole communities live on the tips recycling
plastic etc. They search for a living off the vilest
places, the tips, the filthy canals, and the open
sewers.
"We need an MUA delegation here, not just
leaders, but rank and file workers. We will
arrange meetings. We will show them the
wharves. We’ll get the media in. Dock work is the
same whether it is in Indonesia or Australia, but
the wages are not the same.
"Australians can say I get $6,000 a month;
Indonesians get $60 a month. They can shame
the government and make them listen. Why
should there be such a big gap? They have the
same employer. Indonesian seafarers working
the coastal trade are only getting $200 a month.
"Australia helped us get our independence. Our
struggles have always been close. Those fighting
for Indonesian independence were the workers,
Indonesian workers and Australian workers,
maritime workers who banned Dutch arms being
shipped out of Sydney.
"We must help each other and work together. "

FISHING FOR TROUBLE
p36
F or Indonesia’s estimated 2.5 million fishermen there’s not
a lot of choice. You go and get work on a foreign fishing
vessel where you may have to work 24-hour shifts,
endure abuse and lose half your pay to manning agents. Or you
stay close to home, work on traditional fishing vessels that
make up 95 per cent of the industry and find you have no
protection or basic wage, training standards or safety..."
INDONESIA CALLING
New film about the making of the film about Australian wharfies and seafarers fight for Indonesian independence.
p37
CABOTAGE FOR WORKERS and TIMOR GAP WAGE GAP next MWJ

FLICKR Jakarta Docks 09 Photo Gallery