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By Max Lane — In a press statement on October 3, the Indonesian Workers and Labourers Assembly (MPBI) said that 2 million workers mobilised for the national strike it called for that date, in industrial areas or outside government offices in 21 cities and towns. Press and blog reports separately estimate that hundreds of thousands of workers mobilised in Jakarta’s industrial estates, gathering at many different rally points. It is reported that tens of thousands of others gathered in Indonesia’s larger cities and thousands in smaller towns.
The strike was scheduled to go for a few more days, but the MPBI leaders called it off after one day, following another round of meetings with the minister for labour. The MPBI has given the government two weeks to come up with a satisfactory answer to its demands, or the strike will resume. The MPBI demands, supported by other unions, including the more overtly left, but much smaller, Workers Secretariat, are for an increase in wages, an end to “outsourcing” and the full implementation of health insurance legislation that would guarantee coverage to all workers, with employers paying the premiums.
The strike marks a clear turning point in the shaping of the political terrain for popular struggle in Indonesia. Labour, even if still only a minuscule portion of the workforce, is organised, has entered the political stage, and this entrance is based on the increased self-confidence and combativity of workers, especially in the industrial estates.