Indonesia: PT Istana, a factory occupied and producing under workers’ control

[cyu]

Excerpts from http://www.marxist.com/pt-istana-factory-occupied.htm

When we arrived at the gates of the factory, we saw banners greeting us and the gates being guarded by the workers.

http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/indonesia/pt_istana1.jpg




The workers present, overwhelmingly women (many wearing the traditional Islamic headscarf), were extremely pleased to receive support from an international delegation and were proud to show us what they had achieved through their struggle... the thing that struck us most was the mood of the workers; they were happy, proud, and lively. It was very different from the mood you would see in a normal factory.

This was once a large textile factory employing more than 1,000 workers and producing textiles for big name Western brands (including GAP, Banana Republic, Victoria's Secrets, Adidas) and exporting to Australia, the US, India, Malaysia, Germany, etc.

in July 2007, the company put up posters announcing the end of production and tried to lock the workers out. The workers fought back and found themselves occupying the premises. Initially they were just fighting for their redundancy money, but this quickly escalated into a struggle for their jobs once it became clear that the company was not prepared to pay.

http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/indonesia/pt_istana5.jpg




In January 2008, the company put pressure on the electricity company to cut off the power supply to the factory... However, with help from supporters they managed to get a diesel power generator which now allows them to run the machines they were able to rescue from the flooded warehouse. At the same time, they are in negotiations with the union of the electricity workers (Serikat Pekerja PLN) to try to get reconnected to the power grid.

The Factory Committee runs on a democratic basis and responds to the mass assembly of the workers. It was very interesting to see the accounts of the committee in running the factory published on the board for all to see and inspect.

During the occupation the workers learned about the movement of occupied factories in Latin America and watched both Naomi Klein's "The Take" about Argentina and HOV's "No Volveran" about Venezuela. This generated discussions which ended with the decision to start production under workers' control.

They were pleasantly surprised to see that the way they had organised their committee was almost identical to that of workers in Latin America occupying factories.
http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/indonesia/pt_istana3.jpg
We insisted on the importance of the step they had taken, not only in occupying the factory, but also in starting to produce without bosses. They had proven something very important: the bosses need the workers to run the factories, but the workers do not need the bosses! ... However, we insisted that one cannot have socialism in one factory and their struggle should be seen as part of the wider struggle to transform society; something which they were very aware of.

The meeting ended with a spirited singing of the Internationale with all the workers standing and raising their fists. It was a moving moment. You could see in the workers' faces their sense of pride and achievement.

[Bitter Ashes]

Wow! That is awesome! :D
Now, rinse and repeat across the world!

[Boy Named Crow]

They were pleasantly surprised to see that the way they had organised their committee was almost identical to that of workers in Latin America occupying factories.

Great minds think alike... :thumbup:

What a fantastic story - thanks for that!

It would be such good news if the Union of the electricity board manage to get the factory connected again. Workers helping workers.

I actually feel happier having read that!

[Bitter Ashes]

You could get the power station occupied too! :cool:
And then and then the mines where the fuel is coming from and capturing the wagons that transport it and and and and....!!!!11!!
I guess, this is how revolutions start!

[Boy Named Crow]

Well... in a way yes.

It wouldn't suprise me if some corporation that had a vested interest in that factory intervenes or lobbies the government to intervene. That would probably result in a show of force by the government.

Hopefully this would move more of the population into action in protest.

I do say this with little knowledge of Indonesia's current government.

[Wakizashi the Bolshevik]

This is magnificent news indeed:thumbup:.

[PRC-UTE]

well done. thanks for posting this and please keep us informed.

should probably be in the workers struggles forum though.

[Bitter Ashes]

Well... in a way yes.

It wouldn't suprise me if some corporation that had a vested interest in that factory intervenes or lobbies the government to intervene. That would probably result in a show of force by the government.

Hopefully this would move more of the population into action in protest.

I do say this with little knowledge of Indonesia's current government.
Yeah. And that's when the battlelines are really drawn up. The real reactionaries will show up then. I guess moving fast is important too. If anyone knows anyone from Indonesia, certainly, encourage solidaritary!

[Pogue]

All power to the workers councils!

[Cheung Mo]

Golkar, an authoritarian-right part traditionally associated with Suharto, is involved in the current government and has its hands in a lot of pots. I don't know of any prominent leftist parties in Indonesia.

[Rjevan]

Wow, great news! Occupying factories seems to be the latest trend. ;)
Thanks for posting this, I'm always glad to see news like these. :thumbup:

[RedScare]

This is an excellent step for Muslim women as well as workers. Let's hope that the government doesn't crush it, Indonesia is still pretty jittery about communists since the big purge of them in the 1960s, so the government and the conservative Muslim clerics might try to take it out.

[brigadista]

thrilling!!!

[Reuben]

Excellent. A bit of a lesson for all those who see a hijabbed woman and assume that they are looking at a submissive and adominated subject.

[Boy Named Crow]

This is an excellent step for Muslim women as well as workers. Let's hope that the government doesn't crush it, Indonesia is still pretty jittery about communists since the big purge of them in the 1960s, so the government and the conservative Muslim clerics might try to take it out.

you know what - i hadnt even considered reaction from religious circles. yes i bet they will have something to say soon enough.

to anyones knowledge are there any radical or progressive groups that might defend or show solidarity were this to happen?

[Knight of Cydonia]

let us not talk about religion? the news is not about the muslim women. Cyu, you should wrote the headline the same as the origin of the news, do not change it!. and the original headline was: Indonesia: PT Istana, a factory occupied and producing under workers’ control.

[Pogue]

But yeh this is great news, more so that they're women, this is real sexualempowerment, in line with working class empowerment, where it should be.

[GracchusBabeuf]

Great news comrades! :D This should be an example for all women workers to unite and take over their respective workplaces.

[RedSonRising]

I think this is great news...in my opinion it is vital for workers in the third world to continually take autonomous action in their workplace communities before organizing. I am excited to see where this goes nationally.

[NecroCommie]

Man dude! Great news! I will make sure that every employee of my library sees this. This sure saved my day.

[Bilan]

Moved to Workers Struggles.

[OneNamedNameLess]

:)

[Kambing]

To bring the thread back to its original focus (as the PT Istana occupation does not seem to have been motivated by Islam or anarchism, much less anarchist Islam), does anyone here know much about KASBI or the PRP, who seem to be playing something of an organising role? I'm not too familiar with them myself, although I have encountered brief references to them in some of Max Lane's stuff on the Indonesian left (Max Lane is an Australian academic and RSP/ex-DSP activist).

KASBI and the PRP appear to originate from the remnants of the Indonesian student left who were involved in the anti-dictatorship struggle in the late 1990s, but who have now turned to a greater focus on labour organising (as opposed to those who have retreated into political opportunism or been thoroughly demoralised following the decline of the student movement itself). I think many of their activists may have initially been involved in the PRD or some of its front organisations (PRD is the People's Democratic Party - a once-prominent social democratic party with Marxist currents, that has experienced a significant decline and various splits as it has lurched towards opportunism). I could be wrong with these assumptions, though.

I found some English-language references to the PRP on Max Lane's blog and a translated 2008 interview at the RSP-run Asia Pacific Solidarity Network site (sorry, I'm not allowed to post links yet so you'll have to google them; just search for 'Max Lane blog' and 'jurnal bersatu' and you should be able to find them without too much trouble). I gather that the PRP is socialist, and supports the formation of a broad 'working-class' electoral party like many Trotskyist groups do. However, the Australian RSP and DSP are much more interested in taking sides in the recent PRD split (which parallels their own recent split) than in providing a broader overview of the Indonesian left, so I'm really not sure where the PRP fits exactly. Unfortunately the often useful Indonesian site rumahkiri.net seems to be down, and they don't have a very accessible web presence (for financial and security reasons, Indonesian leftists tend to organise online through fairly decentralised and transient forms like mailing lists and social networking sites).

Anyone got a clearer picture? I'm mostly just curious about a few issues like the relationship between PRP and KASBI, their political/ideological origin and current orientation, the extent of their influence in the labour movement, etc.

As for the occupation itself, does anyone know how prominent a struggle it is within the wider Indonesian labour movement? Based on the report from In Defence of Marxism it does appear that this is not the case of isolated left activists parachuting into a labour dispute, but rather a case of a rather successful organising drive by a leftist union federation (KASBI) being met with escalating intimidation, and eventually an attempted lock-out and factory closure. In the current economic and political situation we can expect many more such moves in Indonesia; the question is, are radical unions like KASBI in a position to organise a fightback, and can they generalise the factory occupation tactic? While Indonesia could be shaping up to be a significant site of class conflict, the historical weakness of the Indonesian left, the gutting of their industrial base, and recent political moves back towards New Order-style authoritarianism (with Islamic ornamentation) mostly leave me worried.

If anyone here is more in touch with the current landscape of the Indonesian left, and their role in the factory occupation etc, I'm sure many of us would appreciate some more in-depth information (while trying not to compromise the security of KASBI and PRP activists, of course).

[Devrim]

To bring the thread back to its original focus (as the PT Istana occupation does not seem to have been motivated by Islam or anarchism, much less anarchist Islam),

Apologises for moving it back to the digression again.


This is the description from facebook:

And skimming through it, I failed to find any Muslim anarchists except three (western) figures.


Really, this shouldn't be surprising, even if you view Islam and anarchism as fundamentally opposed – people often hold contradictory ideas, and contradictory political movements abound. I am honestly surprised by Devrim's assertion that he doesn't know of any Muslim anarchists in Turkey, but he may well be defining them out of existence.

Perhaps, I am defining them out of existence. I would define an anarchist as a member of an anarchist organisation. There are/have been anarchist organisations in Turkey, but they are/have been based on communist principles and are not religious. It may be possible that there are some hippy idealists out there who call themselves both anarchists and Muslims. Fortunately, I haven't come across them.


I take the Islamic compulsion to seek knowledge very seriously, if I am wrong in this, please show me how? :D

I am really not at all interested in a dialogue with you. I am only correcting some of the inacurracies in what you write. Buy a book.


by the way Devrim, what is the punishment for wearing a turban in Turkey?

Er...nothing*, here is a picture of the President and the Prime Minister with their wives and the President's daughter all wearing turban:

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:49KYkbet5CMpzM:http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20071014/i/r3838211477.jpg

However, some Islamicists have a nasty habit of attacking women in the street for being 'immodestly dressed' after election victories. I expect it will happen after this week's local elections again.


Furthermore, anyone who did not take their version of Islam as the only Islam was therefore an unbeliever and should be killed. These were not anarchists, they were murderous, schizmatic nutcases.

Actually, they were a radical egalitarian current who struggled against those who they considered had usurped power.


Tasawuf (Sufism) cannot exist without Sha'riah, so Sufis will still be either Sunni or Shia, and will still follow the law. Most of the Turkish Ulema were of the Naqshabandi Tariq (a Sufi path). Most other later scholars were also, Al-Ghazzali, Imam Nawawi etc. along with the best contemporary scholars, Abdul Hakim Murad, Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Seyyid Hossein Nasr etc.

The interest of some Western leftists in Sufiism seems very strange to me. Today it is generally associated with right-wing politics. Turgut Özal the Prime Minister installed by the army after the 1980 military coup in Turkey was a Naqshbandi as is the current PM, Tayyip Erdoğan.

Devrim

*In the past it was illegal to wear turban in certain public buildings.

[Bitter Ashes]

Is there any more news about this occupation?
Also, is it worth asking whether this thread needs splitting, as it seems to have moved completly away from the subject of the occupation now. :)

[PRC-UTE]

Is there any more news about this occupation?
Also, is it worth asking whether this thread needs splitting, as it seems to have moved completly away from the subject of the occupation now. :)

You're right, it got into anarchism and Islam for several pages, so I split those off.

edit: also copied and pasted the original title from the link provided in the op.

[Bitter Ashes]

Coolies. Thank you :)
So, any news? I mean, the Indonesian goverment hasnt tried to evict them yet or anything? They're still going well? :)

[maxham]

As a devote Libertarian Communism, I'm so proud of the workers of my country that they could liberate themselves from their inlander mentality and become a civil society.

Although leftism is still banned in Indonesia, I sincerely praise PT Istana's labours as they could become the new light and hope for the development of social justice, fair & civilized humanities & of course, economic progress as those Leftist principles became the part of my country's ideological basis (Pancasila). I hope, this shall become a new hope for Indonesian people to develop into a new progressive Left society, nation, and country, to regain Soekarno's dream of fighting neo-Imperialism. Viva NEFO!

Viva el comunismo!
Viva el socialismo!
Viva el anarquismo!
Sindicalismo Viva!
Viva progresismo!


Lang lebe der Kommunismus!
Lang lebe Sozialismus!
Lang lebe Anarchismus!
Lang lebe Syndikalismus!
Lang lebe Progressismus!

[Poison]

That's beautiful...I'm curious if it's possible to make contact and send a little money or help in more direct ways.

[Kambing]

So, any news on how the factory occupation itself is going? All the news I can find on it is from late last year. Hopefully they're still going strong.

Max Lane's blog includes some recent reports on protests against the upcoming Indonesian elections, which include the main organisations involved in the PT Istana factory occupation (KASBI and PRP). Also, for those who are interested in the background to the occupation, I found a paper by Ken Budha Kusumandaru (PRP) from the 2008 Asia Democracy conference available online (just search for the title: “Radical Democracy, a recent experiment in Indonesia”). It covers some of the political context of the occupation, and background on the PRP and KASBI, though obviosuly from a partisan perspective. On the occupation specifically, Ken Kusumandaru says that:




The workers in a factory called P.T. Istana in West Jakarta, led by PRP members in the union, has formed a “Factory Occupation Council” which acts very differently from any “normal” union. This council is based on the models of people’s council found in history, past and contemporary, where direct democracy is in full effect. This Council will, in the near future, include representatives from the neighbourhood to fulfil the aim that the factory should have a social function. Though this factory occupation has only begun three months ago, the workers have already learned a lot about running a complex organization. We will conduct a thorough analysis after six months, for in the time being our focus is in making the production run smoothly again, and, of course, in fending off efforts from the owner to thwart the occupation.

With this experiment, we aim to extract meaningful and crucial lessons, how to change the social relation of production and how to build a social ownership of the means of production. Can a production process run without the owner, or even without the factory bureaucrats? Can a socially owned factory bring prosperity to its workers and neighborhood? How can we build connections between factories (when more factories has been occupied)? Can this be a template for nationalization of industies? More questions will surely surface in the future.

This experiment must not remain isolated, a lone example in the midst of onslaught by neoliberal forces. Thus we aim to build around it a national movement of factory occupation, and a network of international support towards this initiative. Without such support, the local initiative would die out, because its scale is too small to enable it to compete in the still capitalist environment. It is still a small island in the sea of capitalist enterprises, we aim to reverse the situation.

If we succeed to found a national movement of factory occupation, I think this will differentiate what we attempt here from what is currently under way in Latin American countries such as Venezuela. Here in Indonesia, we don’t have state support. The general mood of the people is also in the ebb—the people have not arisen for struggle again after their energy spent in the upheaval of 1997-98. The general election is coming and the Indonesian working masses are swallowing liberal democrats’ propaganda about nationalism or protectionism, without any real demand to change the social relation of productive forces. And, most importantly, the geographic factor, where the Latin America is one huge landmass and Indonesia is one great archipelago, will surely contribute to the speciation process that will differentiate the developments in both regions. Thus, we want to utilize this movement to provide a realizable alternative to liberal democracy and economic relations.
So they seem to have a clear perspective of trying to build a broader movement of factory occupations, though I have no idea of their real prospects for success. Hopefully they won't be targeted as an 'example' during the coming election period. I'm sure they could use some more international support and publicity.