Indonesia’s labour movement is deeply divided over political patronage

In Jakarta last month, many May Day demonstrations took place, but two stood out as reflections of the divisions among Indonesia’s trade unions.At the National Monument (Monas), tens of thousands of workers gathered at a rally with President Prabowo Subianto as the guest of honour. Several kilometres away at the People’s Representative Council complex, around 10,000 people assembled under a different banner: “May Day with the People”. Their stated position was an explicit refusal to be co-opted by the government.This oppositional split represents the latest iteration of a decades-long structural tension within Indonesian organised labour: between unions that operate inside the existing political cartel and those that attempt to build independent power outside elite patronage. The polarisation between the elite union bureaucracy and the more militant, independent-minded activists has been a fundamental division since organised labour re-entered the political terrain soon after 1998.Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto delivers a speech in front of thousands of workers during the Labour Day rally celebrations at the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta on May 1. Photo: AFPThe competing rallies also exposed two contradictory conceptions of what trade unions are for. The first stream mostly traces its origins back to the official unions of the Suharto era. The second traces its origins to the pro-democracy movement of the 1990s. The first is represented by major confederations: the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers’ Union (KSPSI), the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI) and the Confederation of United Indonesian Workers (KPBI). KSPI president Said Iqbal is its main figure and was among those standing with Prabowo at the Monas fiesta. Some smaller federations also took part.