Sarbupri
TheEstate Workers Union of the Republic of Indonesia(Indonesian:Sarekat Buruh Perkebunan Republik Indonesia,Sarbupri) was atrade unionof plantation estate workers inIndonesia.As of the late 1950s, it was the largest trade union in the country.[1]Sarbupri was affiliated to the trade union centreSOBSI,which was linked to theCommunist Party of Indonesia.[2]
Indonesian National Revolution
[edit]Sarbupri was founded in February 1947.[2]Sarbupri initially worked only in the Republican-held areas.[3]Its activities at this point were not so much union organizing at estates, as the organization was more involved in building workers' militias to fight the Dutch forces. Most of organizing of workers at the estates was likely limited to preparing the labourers forscorched earthtactics in case of a Dutch advance.
The Sarbupri chairman Maruto Darusman was killed in the midst of the 1948Madiun Affair.[4]
Strikes of 1950 & 1953
[edit]In the early 1950s Sarbupri was the sole estate workers trade union of national importance in the country.[5]A massive strike was organized by Sarbupri August–September 1950, bringing the vast majority of private estates to a halt. As a result of the strike, the government intervened and instituted a minimum wage for estate labour (significantly higher than previous average wages). The strike constituted the first major victory of SOBSI. A second major strike was organized in September 1953, forcing the government to implement a 30% wage increase for estate workers.[6]
Sarbupri campaigned actively against the use of temporary labour at estates. At times the union called for increased government control to prevent the use of temporary labour, at times Sarbupri called for total abolition of the temporary labour system.[7]
Organization
[edit]In 1952 Sarbupri claimed a membership of around 700,000, although that figure was likely inflated. Around 1956 the membership was estimated at around 370-390,000.[5]Sarbupri published the journalWarta Sarbupri.[8]
Suparna Sastradiredja was the general secretary throughout the history of the union.[9]
In 1957, Sarbupri formed a joint coordination body together with seven other estate workers unions.[10]
Repression and aftermath
[edit]The exact number of Sarbupri members who fell victims of the persecutions following the1965 coup d'étatis not known. However, notably, very few former Sarbupri local branch leaders or estate representatives were alive as of the early 1980s.[11]Suparna Sastradiredja survived by being inChinaat the time of the coup.[9]
In several cases, children of Sarbupri leaders were forced to observe the executions of their fathers. For survivors of the repression, their membership in Sarbupri continued to constitute a social stigma for many years to come. In the New Order, former Sarbupri members were often blacklisted and fired from employment at plantation estates (although such moves were difficult to implement at estates where around 90% of the staff had once belonged to Sarbupri). As late as 1976, mass lay-offs of former Sarbupri members took place inSumatra,actions motivated by the communist past of these individuals.[11]In the wake of the crushing of Sarbupri, use of temporary labour increased markedly.[7]
References
[edit]- ^Galenson, Walter.Labor in Developing Economies.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962. p. 105
- ^abHindley, Donald.The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1963.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. xvi
- ^Stoler, Ann Laura.Capitalism and Confrontation in Sumatra's Plantation Belt, 1870-1979.Ann Arbor, Mich: The University of Michigan Press, 1995. p. 220
- ^Hindley, Donald.The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1963.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. 133
- ^abHindley, Donald.The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1963.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. 141
- ^Hindley, Donald.The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1963.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. 148
- ^abStoler, Ann Laura.Capitalism and Confrontation in Sumatra's Plantation Belt, 1870-1979.Ann Arbor, Mich: The University of Michigan Press, 1995. p. 168
- ^Lev, Daniel S., and Ruth McVey.Making Indonesia: [Essays on Modern Indonesia in Honor of George McT. Kahin].Studies on Southeast Asia, no. 20. Ithaca, N.Y.: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1996. p. 102
- ^abInternational Institute of Social History.Indonesia
- ^Hindley, Donald.The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1963.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. 150
- ^abStoler, Ann Laura.Capitalism and Confrontation in Sumatra's Plantation Belt, 1870-1979.Ann Arbor, Mich: The University of Michigan Press, 1995. pp. 163-164