Challenging the criteria of significance: Lessons from contemporary Indonesian labour history

Australian Journal of Politics and History

Volumn 47, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 101-114

  Ford, Michele ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0035585517     PISSN: 00049522     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8497.00221     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Confidential Interviews conducted February-April 1999; Confidential Interviews conducted January-March 2000. All translations of Indonesian-language sources used in this article are my own.
2. In the mid-1990s SPSI was officially restructured once more as federation, FSPSI (Federasi Serikat Pekerja Seluruh Indonesia). See Michele Ford, "Testing the Limits of Corporatism: Reflections on Industrial Relations Institutions and Practice in Suharto's Indonesia", Journal of Industrial Relations, 41, 3 (1999), p. 371-392, for an analysis of the Pancasila Industrial Relations system in New Order Indonesia.
3. See M. Mas'oed, "The Indonesian Economy and Political Structure during the Early Years of the New Order, 1966-1971", unpublished PhD thesis, Ohio State University, 1983; D. Reeve, GOLKAR of Indonesia: An Alternative to the Party System (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1985). Stepan defines "exclusionary" corporatist systems as systems in which the state dominates through control and repression, relying heavily on "coercive policies to deactivate and then restructure salient working-class groups". "Inclusionary" authoritarian corporatist systems, on the other hand, are those in which states seek to coopt interest groups - particularly labour - by allowing them some (controlled) input through approved interest associations. See A. Stepan, The State and Society: Peru in Comparative Perspective (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), p. 74.
4. See M. Mas'oed, "The Indonesian Economy and Political Structure during the Early Years of the New Order, 1966-1971", unpublished PhD thesis, Ohio State University, 1983; D. Reeve, GOLKAR of Indonesia: An Alternative to the Party System (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1985). Stepan defines "exclusionary" corporatist systems as systems in which the state dominates through control and repression, relying heavily on "coercive policies to deactivate and then restructure salient working-class groups". "Inclusionary" authoritarian corporatist systems, on the other hand, are those in which states seek to coopt interest groups - particularly labour - by allowing them some (controlled) input through approved interest associations. See A. Stepan, The State and Society: Peru in Comparative Perspective (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), p. 74.
5. See M. Mas'oed, "The Indonesian Economy and Political Structure during the Early Years of the New Order, 1966-1971", unpublished PhD thesis, Ohio State University, 1983; D. Reeve, GOLKAR of Indonesia: An Alternative to the Party System (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1985). Stepan defines "exclusionary" corporatist systems as systems in which the state dominates through control and repression, relying heavily on "coercive policies to deactivate and then restructure salient working-class groups". "Inclusionary" authoritarian corporatist systems, on the other hand, are those in which states seek to coopt interest groups - particularly labour - by allowing them some (controlled) input through approved interest associations. See A. Stepan, The State and Society: Peru in Comparative Perspective (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), p. 74.
6. M. van Langenberg, "Analysing Indonesia's New Order State: A Keywords Approach", Review of Indonesian and Malayan Affairs, 20, 2 (1986), pp. 17-19.
7. M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations in the Habibie Interregnum", Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 28, 2 (2000), pp. 59-88.
8. V. Hadiz, Workers and the State in New Order Indonesia (London: Routledge, 1997), p. 8.
9. Ibid., chapter 7.
10. Confidential Interviews conducted February-April 1999; Confidential Interviews conducted January-March 2000.
11. See for example, S. Frenkel ed., Organised Labor in the Asia Pacific Region: A Comparative Study of Trade Unionism in Nine Countries (Ithaca: ILR Press, 1993).
12. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
13. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
14. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
15. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
16. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
17. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
18. Convergence models are based on the work of C. Kerr, J. Dunlop, F. Harbison and C. Meyers, Industrialism and Industrial Man (London: Heinemann, 1962). Convergence models posit that modernising elites in "developing" countries would seek to emulate both the industrial and industrial relations systems of the "developed", capitalist West. See for example, R. Bates, "Approaches to the Study of Unions and Development", Journal of Industrial Relations, 9 (1970), p. 365, M. Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations"; M. Hess, "How the Foreign Devils Got It Wrong: Understanding Industrial Relations in Less-Developed Countries", Journal of Industrial Relations, 28, 2 (1986); M. Hess, Unions Under Economic Development: Private Sector Unions in Papua New Guinea (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992); B. Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN: A Comparative Study (Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services 1996), p. 6 and S. Siddique, "Industrial Relations in a Third World Setting: A Possible Model", Journal of Industrial Relations, 31, 3 (1989), p. 387 for criticisms of convergence and the development-industrial relations nexus.
19. F. Deyo, Beneath the Miracle: Labor Subordination in the New Asian Industrialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989); S. Kuruvilla, "Linkages Between Industrialization Strategies and Industrial Relations/Human Resource policies: Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, and India" Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 49, 4 (1996); S. Kuruvilla and C. Venkataratnam, "Economic Development and Industrial Relations: The Case of South and Southeast Asia", Journal of Industrial Relations, 27, 1 (1996); Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN.
20. F. Deyo, Beneath the Miracle: Labor Subordination in the New Asian Industrialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989); S. Kuruvilla, "Linkages Between Industrialization Strategies and Industrial Relations/Human Resource policies: Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, and India" Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 49, 4 (1996); S. Kuruvilla and C. Venkataratnam, "Economic Development and Industrial Relations: The Case of South and Southeast Asia", Journal of Industrial Relations, 27, 1 (1996); Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN.
21. F. Deyo, Beneath the Miracle: Labor Subordination in the New Asian Industrialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989); S. Kuruvilla, "Linkages Between Industrialization Strategies and Industrial Relations/Human Resource policies: Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, and India" Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 49, 4 (1996); S. Kuruvilla and C. Venkataratnam, "Economic Development and Industrial Relations: The Case of South and Southeast Asia", Journal of Industrial Relations, 27, 1 (1996); Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN.
22. F. Deyo, Beneath the Miracle: Labor Subordination in the New Asian Industrialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989); S. Kuruvilla, "Linkages Between Industrialization Strategies and Industrial Relations/Human Resource policies: Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines, and India" Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 49, 4 (1996); S. Kuruvilla and C. Venkataratnam, "Economic Development and Industrial Relations: The Case of South and Southeast Asia", Journal of Industrial Relations, 27, 1 (1996); Sharma, Industrial Relations in ASEAN.
23. R. Southall ed., Labour and Unions in Asia and Africa: Contemporary Issues (London: Macmillan 1988), pp. 17-18.
24. M. Pinches, "All That We Have is Our Muscle and Sweat", in M. Pinches and S. Lakha eds, Wage Labour and Social Change: The Proletariat in Asia and the Pacific (Clayton: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1987), p. 103.
25. G. Seidman, Manufacturing Militance: Workers' Movements in Brazil and South Africa, 1970-1985 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), developed her argument in her Doctoral study of workers' movements in Brazil and South Africa.
26. H. Thomas, "The Erosion of Trade Unions", in H. Thomas ed., Globalisation and Third World Trade Unionism: The Challenge of Rapid Economic Growth (London: Zed, 1995).
27. B. Abbott, "The Emergence of a New Industrial Relations Actor - the Role of Citizens' Advice Bureaux?", Industrial Relations Journal, 29, 4 (1998), p. 257.
28. R. Hyman, "Theory and Industrial Relations", British Journal of Industrial Relations, 23 2 (1994) pp. 165-180.
29. T.M. Lubis, In Search of Human Rights: Legal-Political Dilemmas of Indonesia's New Order (Jakarta: Gramedia/SPES, 1993), pp. 206-250.
30. Kompas, 30 September 1994.
31. Jurnal Demokrasi (1992), p. 10.
32. Kompas, 7 November 1994.
33. B. Carr, "Globalization from Below: Labour Internationalism under NAFTA", International Social Science Journal, 51, 1 (1999), p. 50.
34. Unfortunately, having briefly recognised NGOs' involvement in labour, Carr neither teases out the links between globalisation and human rights nor goes on to address the (theoretical) implications of NGOs' involvement in global or national labour movements. Ibid., p. 20.
35. A. Giles, "Globalisation and Industrial Relations Theory", Journal of Industrial Relations, 42, 2 (2000), pp. 185-6.
36. Ibid., p. 187.
37. See Ford, "Continuity and Change in Indonesian Labour Relations".
38. Copies of legislation discussed in this section were provided by LBH Bandung and the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity's Jakarta office.
39. Confidential Interviews conducted February-April 1999.
40. American Center for International Labor Solidarity (hereafter ACILS), "Monthly Report -October 1999", Jakarta, unpublished, p. 18.
41. Although the Habibie government abandoned the New Order's policy of single-vehicle interest representation, it maintained Indonesia's formal industrial relations structures under its commitment to Manpower Law No.25/1997, which was due to be implemented in October 2000 (TVRI National News, 16 October 1998). At the time of writing, it was unclear if the law, which was the subject of widespread controversy towards the end of the Suharto era and throughout the Habibie interregnum, would be implemented as planned.
42. LIPS, Untitled Report on LIPS' Worker-NGO Workshop, Bogor 1999, unpublished, npg.
43. Confidential Interviews conducted January-March 2000.
44. LIPS, Untitled Report on LIPS' Worker-NGO Workshop, Bogor 1999 unpublished, npg.
45. Confidential Interviews conducted January-March 2000.
46. This included the two factions of FSPSI, which split in August 1998. See Jakarta Post, 24 August 1998.
47. FSPSI, "Union Statistics, October 1999", unpublished report.
48. Marhaen is a term invented by Indonesia's first President Sukarno, to denote the Indonesian toiling masses, both peasant and proletariat. See the report (untitled) compiled by researchers from Fauzi Abdullah's LIPS (Lembaga Informasi Perburuhan Semarak - The Semarak Insititute for Labour Information) which includes profiles of fourteen of the national-level unions and union federation, LIPS, Untitled report on the state of trade unionism in Indonesia, Bogor, 2000, pp. 27-49.
49. ACILS, "Monthly Report - June 1999", Jakarta, p. 16.
50. Ibid., July 1999, p. 16.
51. Ibid., June 1999, p. 15. 41 Confidential Interviews conducted February-April 1999.
52. Confidential Interviews conducted February-April 1999; Confidential Interviews conducted January-March 2000.
53. As noted earlier, none of these regional unions have been able to register, as they do not fulfil the Department of Manpower's sectoral requirements.
54. LIPS, Untitled report, 2000, p. 56.
55. Ibid., p. 53.
56. Confidential Interviews conducted January-March 2000.
57. See Suara Merdeka, 15 March 1999; Pikiran Rakyat, 14, 16 March and 20 April 1999; Surya, 17 March and 10 April 1999; Kompas, 19 March 1999; Merdeka, 20 and 22 March 1999; Waspada, 24 March 1999; ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 21.
58. See Suara Merdeka, 15 March 1999; Pikiran Rakyat, 14, 16 March and 20 April 1999; Surya, 17 March and 10 April 1999; Kompas, 19 March 1999; Merdeka, 20 and 22 March 1999; Waspada, 24 March 1999; ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 21.
59. See Suara Merdeka, 15 March 1999; Pikiran Rakyat, 14, 16 March and 20 April 1999; Surya, 17 March and 10 April 1999; Kompas, 19 March 1999; Merdeka, 20 and 22 March 1999; Waspada, 24 March 1999; ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 21.
60. See Suara Merdeka, 15 March 1999; Pikiran Rakyat, 14, 16 March and 20 April 1999; Surya, 17 March and 10 April 1999; Kompas, 19 March 1999; Merdeka, 20 and 22 March 1999; Waspada, 24 March 1999; ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 21.
61. See Suara Merdeka, 15 March 1999; Pikiran Rakyat, 14, 16 March and 20 April 1999; Surya, 17 March and 10 April 1999; Kompas, 19 March 1999; Merdeka, 20 and 22 March 1999; Waspada, 24 March 1999; ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 21.
62. See Suara Merdeka, 15 March 1999; Pikiran Rakyat, 14, 16 March and 20 April 1999; Surya, 17 March and 10 April 1999; Kompas, 19 March 1999; Merdeka, 20 and 22 March 1999; Waspada, 24 March 1999; ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 21.
63. ACILS, "Monthly Report - March 1999", p. 19
64. Media Indonesia 20 May 1999.
65. Pikiran Rakyat, 11 June 1999.
66. It should not be forgotten that trade unions have existed in Indonesia since the beginning of the twentieth century.
67. Hadiz, Workers and the State, p. 8.