Contents

• Industry Relations in Pre-Soeharto Indonesia
• Industry Relations in Soeharto Indonesia
• Industry Relations in Post-Soeharto Indonesia
• References

Description

Labor unions in Indonesia existed since colonial times (Hess, 1997). The industry relations rules established during Dutch colonial times favored employers since most of them were either Dutch or Chinese immigrants (Hess, 1997). Trade unions that existed during Dutch colony had limited memberships and had mostly while collared workers as members (Hess, 1997). The lower level workers did not enjoy any rights in the industry labor relationships. Labor unions before independence operated without any legal protection. However, after independence in 1949, labor unions joined the national mainstream since their activities were also responsible for the independence from Dutch. The largest labor union post independence was Serikat Organisasi Buruh Seluruh Indonesia (Hess, 1997). This labor union enrolled more than half of the nation’s workers as its members. The employers formed their union too in 1952 in the name of PUSPI or employers' council on socio-economic affairs (APINDO, 2009). It exists even today with a different name though, which is APINDO or Asosiasi Pengusaha Indonesia, which means The Employers’ Association of Indonesia (APINDO, 2009). This association was recognized by the Soeharto Government in 1975 (APINDO, 2009). The government passed Collective Agreements Act in 1954 to provide guidelines for wage related issues and employment conditions. This acted as the first major legislation in employer-employee relationship (Hess, 1997). Although, labor unions in post independence years were recognized as important bodies in industry relationships, it was only in 1956 that the labor unions were given legal status (Hess, 1997). Despite several acts to address the employer-employee disputes the employees did not have much of a say in the legal framework and this led to many strikes resulting in loss of production of hundreds of days. When armed forces led by Soehrto overthrew Soekamo government, Serikat Organisasi Buruh Seluruh Indonesia was abolished (Hess, 1997).