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 Home Overseas Projects Indonesia Region Strategy
Indonesia Strategic Plan 2005-2008
29 March 2006
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has a two-pronged strategy in Indonesia. The first is based on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Indonesian province of Aceh following the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004 and the second strategy concerns supporting the Indonesian peoples' struggle for workplace human rights with an opportunity to strengthen workers' rights.
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA office in Aceh
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Background - Program Context
Recent years have bought some dramatic changes and hopeful signs in Indonesia. The fall of Soeharto and the introduction of democracy, the democratic space for independent trade unions to be established, the peace deal in Aceh, are all some of the positive steps. However, some of the key problems still confronting Indonesia are the growing poverty, a conflict based on secession in West Papua, a crippling government debt and continuing government corruption. Moreover, while independent trade unions are now allowed, and Indonesia has ratified the ILO Conventions 87 and 98 in June 1998, violence against union members struggling for a just wage or a safe workplace is condoned by the Government.
Working conditions in Indonesia are low, even by Third World standards. For example, in 2003 there were 1,748 workplace fatalities (according to official government statistics) and 10,395 permanent disabilities and 93,703 temporary disabilities. Wage levels in Indonesia are also very low - the legal minimum wage is approximately US$70 a month.
Independent and democratic trade unions have a crucial role to play in Indonesia to ensure that working men and women receive just wages and so improve their family living standards. Moreover, there is a huge discrepancy between men's and women's wages - women earn 25% to 32% less than their male colleagues, and many women work in sweatshop conditions.
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA's history in Indonesia
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA first began working in Indonesia in 1999, when we worked with the Legal Aid Institute of Indonesia (LBH) to launch the Labour Education Centre to support the training of workers and union representatives in labour rights and the role of trade unions in the workplace. Currently, the Centre is managed and run by the Labour Working Group representing 34 independent and democratic union federations and unions throughout Indonesia. There has been a positive development of genuinely independent and democratic trade unions following the fall of the Soeharto regime and these organisations play a key role in ensuring working families can improve their standard of living by winning a fair wage, as well as strengthening civil society.
The Indian Ocean Tsunami which struck the Indonesian province of Aceh on 26 December 2004 killed over 160,000 people and displaced one million people. It also led to widespread damage of the natural environment and demolished much of the province's infrastructure. Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has moved on from providing emergency relief in the first few months to now supporting tsunami survivors to rebuild their livelihoods through vocational skills training and community development programs.
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA's strategy in Indonesia for the next three years will focus on assisting the rehabilitation and reconstruction process in Aceh as well as building civil society organisations, including democratic trade unions.
Key Issues and Concerns
- Rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh.
- Low wages for many men and women due often to non-implementation of the Labour Law throughout Indonesia.
- History of poor trade union education and undemocratic trade unions.
- Continuing struggle for human rights and strengthening the still fragile democracy.
- Inequitable economic development with increasing wealth for some, but growing poverty for many, a low level of workplace human rights to protect the interests of working families, and widespread corruption which continues despite the fall of the Soeharto government.
- Violence and fragmentation due to ethnic, religious and separatist conflicts.
Key Strategies of Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA in Indonesia for 2005-2008
- Vocational skills training leading to livelihood security in Aceh.
- Building strong civil society organisations for sustainable development.
- Development of independent and democratic organisations to defend workers' rights.
- Linkages of Indonesian partners with Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA partners in Australia, Europe through SOLIDAR partners, South Africa and South East Asia.
Strategic project areas/themes
- Livelihood security and capacity building
- Labour rights and education.
- Trade union development
Current Projects 2005-06
1. Tsunami Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Projects in Aceh:
- Livelihood and Vocational Education development.
- Health care
- Building Civil Society
- Strengthening workplace human rights in partnership with the UK Trade Union Congress
2. Labour Working Group-Training Centre, Bandung
- Training of union facilitators (trainers) in different provinces of Indonesia for genuine and democratic trade union development in partnership with UNISON, UK.
- Developing the capacity of the Training Centre in Bandung by assisting them in networking.
- Refining training modules in such areas as leadership, facilitation, negotiation, gender, globalisation, and union administration and finances
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