Indonesia: Labour Education Centre

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA is supporting the Indonesian Labour Education Centre based in the industrial city of Bandung by providing vital union education and organising skills for trade unionists. The project focuses on direct training programs for union members and worker activists in developing the skills necessary to address workers' issues and to organise effectively. The project aims to respond to the urgent needs of the labour sector and in particular to assist with the development of independent trade unions.

In Indonesia today, over 50% of the population is living below the poverty line, (up from just 11% in 1997), unemployment is between 20-30 million workers, and underemployed is even higher. Real wages have fallen from $US69 a month five years ago to about $US48 a month in the provinces, while in Jakarta, wages are at the same level as 5 years ago, despite high inflation. The total Indonesian labour force is 98 million workers. Over 52% of the Indonesian budget goes towards debt repayment, while only 7% is allocated to education and health.

Trade unions have a crucial role to play in Indonesia to ensure that working men and women receive a just wage and so improve the standard of living for their families. Unions also have an important role to play in strengthening civil society and so strengthening a still-fragile democracy.

With support from donations such as yours, the project of trade union training with the Labour Education Centre (LEC) continues in Bandung, Indonesia. Bandung is an industrial city about 200 kilometers east of Jakarta. Much of the workforce is employed in the footwear, clothing and textile industries.

Three years of assistance

The LEC was established by the Labour Working Group (LWG), an organisation of 16 independent, democratic and inclusive trade unions in the Bandung region to help the establishment of trade unions and the training of organisers and workplace delegates in the factories.

For three years, the LEC has helped to establish independent trade unions in factories in the region, has trained organisers and workplace delegates, and has assisted them with training covering topics such as Introduction to Trade Unionism, Negotiating Enterprise Bargaining Agreements, Gender Issues in the Workplace and Trade Union Administration.

New plans for the future

With the completion of the three-year program of support in January, and the strategic planning in February and March, the Labour Education Centre (LEC) is now proceeding with a new three-year program of concentrating on developing the small but essential trade union training network for democratic unions throughout Indonesia.

Work is now underway to establish a network of 52 union trainers or facilitators - 2-3 from each of the 16 federations and unions who are members of the LWG. Already 18 trainers/facilitators have been identified and undertaken the first level of training. As well as two train-the-trainer sessions for these trainers each year, they will also have three inservice meetings each year.

Instead of just working in the clothing, footwear and textile industries, the LEC will now be assisting the development of unions across a broad range of unions and industries. Some of the partner unions are:

• ASPEC (the banking, communications and retail union)

• KAHUTINDO (timber and forestry union)

• FSPMI (metalwork union)

• FSPM (hotel workers) and

• FSBNI (the Nestlé union)

In developing and strengthening a network of union trainers or facilitators for a number of key unions in Indonesia, the LEC will be making a key contribution to the strengthening of independent, democratic, inclusive and effective trade unions in Indonesia.

You can support this work in Indonesia by becoming a donor today.

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Last Modified: Thursday, 02-Mar-2006 14:10:38 EST
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