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Widespread oppression of women workers in Indonesia
By Becky Ellis
The rapid development of export industries in Indonesia since the 1970s has significantly increased women's participation in the industrial work force. Indonesian women are concentrated in manufacturing, agriculture, trades and services, and make up 70-80% of the textile and garment industry.
Workers in Indonesia generally experience terrible working and living conditions. The Suharto government has outlawed workers' right to organise and join trade unions of their choice. In response, an increasing number of workers, especially women, have begun to campaign for workers' rights and greater democracy.
Official government policy holds that women are already emancipated. However, women do not have full status in society until they are married, and it is state policy that marriage and motherhood are the only acceptable states for women. The ideal woman worker, according to a well-known saying in Indonesia, is "takut dan malu" or "fearful and shy".
Because of a large number of rural families being pushed off their land by the military to make way for private developments, and a sharp downturn in available work in agriculture, young rural women flock to the cities seeking jobs.
These women are considered the best workers and are hired by the large factories for their manual dexterity, supposed tolerance for monotonous tasks and greater obedience than women from urban areas. The majority of women factory workers in Indonesia are under 25 years old, single and poorly educated.
Many employers do not pay even the minimum wage, and women workers are paid less than the men in most industries.
A 1989 study of a range of factories in north Jakarta found that 72.55% of workers were paid below the minimum wage. Many companies get away with this by bribing government officials. It has been estimated that 2-10% of production costs is paid in wages, while 30% is paid in bribes. Women's usual working conditions include long hours, abusive environments, unhealthy conditions and restrictions on the right to organise.
A recent study at a Bandung textile and garment factory found that the workers worked 12-14 hours each day. Another study of a Nike factory in Java found that women workers were permitted to have only two days off a month. In many factories, overtime is compulsory and paid erratically.
By law, workers are entitled to sick, religious, holiday, menstrual and pregnancy leave. In reality, they are rarely permitted to take any leave, and those who persist in doing so are fired. According to reports on Nike factories in Java, workers who are too ill to work are required to spend the day resting in the factory's mosque.
Workers often have money deducted from their wages for things such as fabric flaws and broken needles. At a shrimp paste factory in Java, the workers have to pay Rp50 for the "privilege" of washing the smell of shrimp paste off their hands.
Verbal, physical and sexual abuse are commonplace. A former supervisor at a Nike factory reported that he was trained to yell "Fuck you" and "Move, hurry, you stupid bitch" at the women workers.
Other reports of abuse include supervisors at a shoe factory hitting women workers on their behinds with the out-soles of shoes when they slowed, workers being punished at many factories by being made to run laps around the building, and at several Nike factories, women workers being forced by supervisors to run between their various work sites.
Industrial accidents are also commonplace. A company nurse told researchers that he regularly threw fingers out in the trash heap. In one factory, a 22-year-old woman was scalped when her hair caught on a conveyor belt. Workers rarely receive compensation, and when they do, it does not cover medical expenses.
It is common for workers' quarters to have only one or two toilets for 50 to 100 residents. Water is scarce in these quarters, and workers are often forced to buy expensive bottled water. A study of women workers in Malang found that 68% had no washing facilities or running water at home.
Not surprisingly, the health of women workers is generally very poor. Ailments commonly reported by women textile workers include iron deficiency anaemia, depression, chronic tinnitus, occupational bronchitis, menstrual disorders, muscle strain disorders and hearing loss.
One survey estimated that 40.3% of women workers in Jakarta have iron deficiency anaemia, 30% are infected with intestinal parasites and 88% are malnourished.
There is also mounting evidence that life-threatening disorders are being contracted at work. One study at a textile factory in Bandung revealed that some of the dye workers had bladder cancer, which has been linked to the carcinogens present in locally used dyestuffs.
Women have been at the forefront of struggles for workers' rights in Indonesia. Strikes in all industries have increased substantially over the past decade (in 1994, there were 1130 strikes), and there are numerous examples of the integral role of women in these protests.
Dita Sari, the chairperson of the Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggle, was arrested on July 8, 1996, for leading 20,000 striking workers in a march in the Tandes industrial area. She is currently serving a five-year prison term.
Workers who take up the struggle are regularly intimidated, harassed and abused by the military, and are often sacked. In 1993, a woman named Marsinah who organised a strike at her textile factory was found floating, murdered, in a river near the factory.
International solidarity with these women is imperative. An international day of protest against Nike, one of the worst abusers of women workers in Indonesia, was held on October 18, and Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor and Community Aid Abroad have pledged to continue the campaign. For more information about campaigns in solidarity with workers in Indonesia, contact ASIET (see advertisement on this page).
This article originally appeared in Green Left Weekly Issue #298 dated November 19, 1997.