If we make a comparison with the Young Generation with their Youth Pledge,' also a genuinely glorious event, the PRD exhibits more ideas with greater depth. In the 20s only 3.5% of the population could read and write. The increase in the number of literate people began only with national independence Taking into account this statistic we can understand the deficiencies of the Young Generation of this period.
'45 Generation° was glorious. With no self-interest, without reserve, they devoted all their body and soul, ready to die, in order to defend national independence on every inch of the homeland. Because the main problem they faced were the armed attacks of the colonialists, most of their activities were made up of shooting, the rifle ruled.
They did not get to developing sociopolitical and economic concepts, like you are developing now, such as peoples democracy, popular democracy. And you must never forget that no matter how glorious was the '45 revolution that succeeded in seizing and defending national independence, it was begun by the gangsters of the Senen Markets in Jakarta.
The 66 Generation?° There is nothing more to evaluate on them! And then came the Malari Generation? who wanted reform under the slogan "military back to the barracks", in line with the reform outlook of General Sumitro." Both of them, [the students and General Sumitro], were defeated by the New Order, with tactics which are becoming classic features of our history.
This is why I am proud to be among you all today, you who have prepared your ideas, have started to put them into practice in the field, and smiles maturely ready to accept the consequences, never mind how bitter.
There is no cry more appropriate for all this than "Long live the PRD!"
I am convinced that you are prepared than those who have gone before you and will succeed more than those who have gone before you. I know that you will not denigrate the value of the Indonesian human being through the use of massacre, and the theft of their fundamental rights. Because as was taught by Multatuli,' "the duty of all humans is to become human."
I believe that tomorrow or the next day, you will not speak in the name of the nation in defence of your own interests, or of your group's interests or for the sake of power. It is only ever valid to speak in the name of the nation if there is democracy. Its almost like people have been struck with senility so that they can't remember that the nation comprises three elements: its inhabitants or citizens, the homeland itself or the inhabited 16 International Viewpoint #314 September 1999 territory and the government. To speak on behalf of the nation requires the representation of all three elements. To denigrate any one element is corruption. And corruption in thinking inevitably
I say all this not in order to praise you who have not yet had the chance to succeed, but only to locate you in these comparisons. You have what it takes to succeed better in lifting up our homeland and nation to the level we all dream.
In our modern history, the Young Generation-except Generation—has always been the motor driving things forward. Despite all the flaws and limitations of youth. The most important of which is of corse the lack of courage for self-correction.
Courage! Again: courage! For the youth in particular courage is the greatest of all capital. Without courage, as I have often said, you will be treated like cattle: deceived, herded from here to there and back again or even herded ready for massacre. It is only courage that can make a firm character.
Long live the PRD!"
9450 190 benot 9. Jakarta, March 21, 1999. 1. Author of several works of revolutionary historical literature. He was a guerrilla fighter against the Dutch in 1945, eventually being captured. In the late 1950s, he became a prominent literary figure and polemicist in
Indonesian anti-imperialist movement. e was kidnapped and imprisoned by the military in 1959 for his defence of the Indonesian Chinese community. In 1965, he was again arrested during Suharto's purges and massacres of the Indonesian left. He was beaten, kept in prison in Jakarta until 1969 and then shifted to the infamous Buru Island prison camp until 1979. He was released in 1979 but placed under city arrest. Despite bannings and harassment, he has continued to pubish novels that he wrote in prison. He has been a consistent critic and opponent of the Suharto regime. 2. A term that emerged in the early 20th century to refer to youth activists against colonialism. It later became fixed in Indonesian political vocabulary to refer to each generation or wave of activists
. Pramoedya was kidnapped on orders of the Army high command as a result of his writings defending the Indonesian Chinese community. He spent a year in gaol 4. The period of the rule of General Suharto, which egan in October, 1965 5. The period 1959-65, especially the years 1962-65. when the Indonesian Communist Party and the Sukarnoist Left wing increased in size and political influence. During this period, Sukarno was President. 6. The kingdoms of Majapahit and Singosari were major maritime powers in the region during the 7. An oath that came out of a congress of anti-colonial youth activists in 1920. It was the first time that a substantial body of anti-colonial activists committed themselves to an independent united nation with Malay 8. The generation of youth activists that fought the" Dutch colonialists between 1945-1949. Pramoedya himself was a guerrilla fighter against the Dutch. He was eventually captured and imprisoned by the Dutch. 9. The student activists who sided with the military in 1965-7 during the purges and massacres of leftists. 10. The student leaders who campaigned against corruption and military abuse during 1973-74. The movement was crushed in January, 1974 with more 11. General Sumitro was the most powerful figure in the Indonesian regime after Suharto in 1973. He flirted with limited political liberalisation as well as with the student opposition and also liberalised conditions in the prison camps. He was forced to resign after the 19784 student protests were crushed. 12. A lower Dutch official in the early colonial administration who exposed the corruption and abused of colonialism in a famous Dutch novel and was himself punished as a result.
Hard
labour
Examples of the conditions in which Indonesia's workers work and struggle Striking factory workers
P.T. Brentanindo Asri in north Jakarta is a foreign-owned factory that exports all its produce-woollen jackets -to Europe. The workers are paid well below the legal minimum wage and do not receive most legal entitlements.
The workers struck from May 10 to 22 to demand: a wage rise from 5900 rupiah per day to the legal minimum for Jakarta of R7700 (USS1); overtime payments of R1300 per hour, with double time on Sundays; the freedom to organise; allowances for one meal while working a normal day's shift; transportation; and a weekly pay slip (detailing overtime, for example. These are legal entitlements in Indonesian labour law.
On May 10 and 11 the workers held actions at the factory gates. On May 12 they rallied at the Department of Labour office, and from May 13 to 16 they again rallied at the factory gates. From May 10, 50 thugs paid by the factory confronted the workers each time they demonstrated outside the factory. On May 19, the number of thugs increased to 150.
During a rally on the May 16, a worker was arrested by factory security. That night, two workers were kidnapped from their quarters by local (neighbourhood) security and only released 24
By May 18, the strikers were also protesting outside the National Human Rights Committee office against the attacks on them. They returned to the factory gates on May 19 and were joined by workers' organisers from KOBAR (the Workers Committee for Reform Action) and two student organisations.
At 6am on May 20, around 800, mostly women, workers rallied at the factory gates. At 7am, a group of paid thugs started intimidating the workers into returning to work. By 7.30am, some workers had entered the factory and those who remained outside were still being threatened by the thugs.
At around 7.50am the protesting workers began giving speeches, singing songs of struggle and chanting. At 8.30am a contingent from KOBAR and the student organisations joined the action to demand an end to temporary contracts and for menstruation leave and pregnancy leave. At 10.30am police arrived for discussions with the factory
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OL management. At around llam, a motor bike was ridden from inside the factory directly into the workers sitting outside. A number of workers were injured.
At around 11.30am more students arrived and at noon workers and students stood on top of the factory gate calling those who had started work to stop and join the rally. Half an hour later 35 workers had downed tools.
Two hours later a truck of anti-riot troops arrived. The strike coordinating committee decided to end the rally for the day and march to the workers' quarters. The march was violently attacked by the troops and a lawyer from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute was arrested on the charge of "provocation".
The rally was attacked again and 17 students and nine workers were arrested and taken away. Six other workers were knocked unconscious.
The strike was finally defeated on May 22 and 120 of the 800 workers were sacked, including all of the strike organisers and the most militant workers. Fighting for annual leave or workers compensation
Novia, aged 23, is employed by Matahari Sentosa Jaya, which produces thread, dye and clothing, employing around 10,000 workers. Novia is a machinist at the Bandung (West Java) Matahari factory and works 10 hours a day, seven days a week.
There is no annual leave, and the only form of sick leave is a token amount of menstruation leave.
Novia sometimes has to work for 84 hours a week. She usually has no choice about doing overtime, which is paid at the same rate as normal time. The maximum single shift in Novia's factory —24 hours-is enforced if there is a production target to meet.
Occupational health and safety is a major problem for the workers. Novia says the concentration required is exhausting and by the end of her work day she has to be very careful not to catch her finger in the unsafe sewing machine. Machinists often lose fingers or sustain serious finger injuries.
In other sections of the factory, the workers suffer disproportionately high
POLISI S rates of stomach disorders, asthma and typhoid. The death rate too is high; one worker died in early June trom steam burns. There is a clinic on site, but it has no doctor. A worker needing to go to hospital has to pay up front unless they can prove to management that their condition is work related. Many illnesses therefore go untreated. Injured workers who can no longer work have no accident
Novia receives the legal minimum wage for Bandung of R7700 per day (US$1 or A$1.50), plus R1250 per day to buy food at the factory. An adequate meal
Novia spends most of her wage on food. She pays R16,000 per month to rent her one-third share of a room. Their residence has 28 rooms, all with three workers in each. The building has one outside kitchen and only three The right to organise
Novia was drawn into the workers' movement last October when the Worker-Student Alliance organised a strike around wages and conditions at the factory. Out of that strike the workers formed a factory level trade union called Matahari Workers Struggle Union (SPBM). Novia became a key activist in
The SPBM has 4000 dues paying members from the work force of 12,500 and is supported by almost all of the workers. The entire work force joined a strike last year.
Before the strike, there was no sickness, maternity or annual leave and no rest periods during 10- to 12-hour conditions were extremely unsafe and there were no - medical facilities or provision of safe work clothing.
Organisers began visiting workers at home to discuss factory conditions and the need to strike. This is a common method of organisation, because factory gates are guarded by the military.
On October 10, a group of workers began rallying outside the factory gates hoping they would be joined by other workers arriving for work. The military arrested five strike leaders, confiscated banners and placards, and forced other workers to enter the factory. They also photographed and demanded to see the identification cards of those who refused
An hour later, only a small number of workers remained outside. They marched to the workers quarters to ask other workers to join the action. The large response was enough to counter the military's intimidation and by 11am the strike was under way and factory production was shut down.
Thousands of workers rallied in front of the factory demanding: a 100% pay increase; maternity and menstruation leave; shift breaks; the abolition of the government controlled All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI); an end to military intervention in industrial disputes; and the abolition of the military's role in politics. They also demanded that management stop sacking workers and provide food, transport and accommodation allowances, as well as safe work clothes, an on-site medical clinic and musholah (Muslim place of prayer), along with compensation for injured
The following day, 6000 workers rallied at the provincial parliament building and the day after that 4000 demonstrated there. It was during these rallies that the formation of a Matahari factory union was mooted.
Accompanied by soldiers, factory managers "visited" hundreds of workers to try to force them to sign a form declaring they would return to work the following day. Not one worker agreed and management eventually gave up.
Production remained at a standstill for five days before management agreed to all the workers' demands, except the 100% wage increase and the dissolution of SPSI. When the workers returned to work, the military presence at the factory increased dramatically.
The SPBM was established the following month, but it was not legally recognised until June. Since then, the SPBM secretariat has been attacked by hired thugs, who also sexually and verbally harass factory workers, in particular SPBM activists.
Management has begun sacking SPBM leaders after members of the SPSI "observe" them to find some "fault" that can be used as a pretext. The military now sits in on all discussions between the SPBM and management. * International Viewpoint #314 September 1999 17
Vietnam more far-reaching labour market deregulation. Nearly 20,000 of the 70,000 miners on long-term contracts will be officially declared redundant over the next few months and will be laid-off permanently.
Vinacoal's managers and Party-state officials obviously see the six-month production stoppage as a temporary measure that will fall short of resolving the problem of excess capacity and overproduction. Yet it was the creation of Vinacoal as a commercialised state-owned conglomerate, and its drive for an export-oriented expansion of coal output over the last four years which led to the crisis in the first place. Socialist commodity economy?
Formed in 1995 through a merger of dozens of state-owned coal mines, coal processing, trading and engineering