After Our Two Comrades Were Shot
A translation of chapter one of Khamid Istakhori’s book ‘Berlawan’
(Resist).
A story of resistance from SERBUK PT Fujiseat Karawang,
Indonesia
Monday, 23 September 2013, 11:30am. As in many places and
events, the state’s violent apparatus was waging a war against the common
people. Without exception, against workers. That day, just moments after
leaving the lobby of PT Fujiseat Indonesia, the local police chief issued an
ultimatum to the workers that were mid-protest. We were instructed to
immediately end our picket at Gate 3.
If the gate wasn’t opened within 15 minutes, he stressed,
the Karawang riot control police would take action. Meaning, they would attempt
to forcibly break-up our protest. The smell of the threat of violence suddenly
filled the air between the cries and hopes of the workers fighting for their
fate. Under the hot midday sun, we clashed with the company’s power, resulting
in a story worth re-telling. And it is this story that we now tell.
PT Fujiseat Indonesia is a factory that produces Daihatsu
car seats, located in Karawang International Industrial City (KIIC). KIIC is
the biggest industrial estate in Karawang. There, rows of factories are lined
up, emitting smoke, and producing a variety of commodities. Until 2015, this
area covered more than 1300 ha. What happened that day, at that demonstration,
it was a different battle, faced daily by the working class throughout the
country. When their labour rights are being squeezed, those who seem weak will
in the end bite back as hard as they can.
The action that day was the third episode in the struggle by
workers at PT Fujiseat Indonesia to win permanent employment. They were workers
organised in a new vessel of struggle. At the factory there had previously been
two unions. The first was SPSI. The membership mostly consisted of workers who
had moved from an old factory in Sunter, North Jakarta. The second union was
SPK. In SPK, an internal conflict had been intensifying, with members
disagreeing particularly over the strategy for struggle. The sharpening of the
conflict became the midwife for the birth of a new organisation, SERBUK.
Riki Hermawan and Samsul Bahri are the two men that will be
remembered always as the leaders in the formation of SERBUK at PT Fujiseat
Indonesia. Together, they experienced life in SPK which was complicated and
could no longer be tolerated. Democratisation of the union was not possible;
mechanisms were stuck and there was a shift in the direction of the struggle.
And one of the major issues was the neglect of the fate of the workers who were
yet to be made permanent. Of course, there were 1,001 excuses made by the
leadership of the SPK, but according to Riki Hermawan none of them were to be
believed.
The conversion of workers to permanent employment was
required to be carried out with no additional conditions, according to the
inspection note from the Karawang Department of Manpower and Transmigration.
There was no requirement for a selection process, job evaluation, let alone appointment
based on discipline. Riki and several friends therefore continued to question
why it had not yet occurred. In the end they received no satisfactory response and
were instead cornered with various accusations. Further still, these workers
making criticisms were increasingly ostracised, were excluded from meetings,
and their complaints were considered wind that would pass. They had to endure cruel
bullying.
Often new tools are required to achieve objectives. Riki and
Samsul eventually formed the union SERBUK. At first, there were only 15 people
willing to join SERBUK. Although small, this number was enough to fulfil the
requirements for registration with the Department of Manpower and
Transmigration. After achieving legality, SERBUK activists began working to
recruit. Disappointment with the old union meant the invitations to join SERBUK
began to bear fruit. Within a month, no less than 100 workers had filled out
forms and chosen to join.
The Birth of TABUR and the Next Round of Struggle
The mass work continued. The organisational engine was
heated continuously with discussion, meetings, education, and shared learning
about organising. In addition to discussing the various manoeuvres of the old
union that liked to throw accusations, they also began to examine the
discriminatory acts of the company. At the time, the company was determined not
to recognise the new union. At the tip of HR’s lips was always, “Why make a new
union? There is already an old union!” This difficulty confused Riki. He began
to have doubts. He felt alone, without a parent union federation that could
fortify them.
However, unlike adolescents that have plenty of time to
become lost in their thoughts, the life of a worker like Riki does not allow
for such things. Like it or not, they are forced to endeavour. Through
friendship networks with unions at other factories that were mostly members of
SPK, Riki began to widen communication. Riki had to be smart about his time.
His nights became full of discussion about unity and consolidation. Eventually
Riki came to know that the SPK unions at many of the factories were
experiencing the same difficulties that he had felt when forming the new
union.
Facing the same issues, the workers were brought closer
together in their feelings, interests and understanding. Eventually they were
all welcomed in. Support then came in waves. Without exception, the PT Pindo
Deli paper workers joined. At this point, Riki’s enthusiasm and fight returned
even stronger than before. Several unions that agreed to support SERBUK
Fujiseat formed an alliance called the Advocacy Team for Labour (TABUR). The
name TABUR initially was used as part of a strike that occurred at the Pindo
Deli paper factory in 2001. The Pindo Deli workers shared the experience of the
strike and re-ignited the use of the name.
TABUR united Riki and his comrades in struggle. Through
TABUR, they further consolidated their base. Discussion and meetings became
routine and more intense. The first step was decided upon – TABUR would send a
letter to the company requesting negotiation. Like the twists that occur in
most struggles, the negotiation letter was ignored. Three letters were sent
with no response. TABUR then decided to hold an action at the factory in July
2013. The action was held but the company’s attitude remained unchanged.
Instead of accepting a SERBUK delegation, they claimed to not even know the
workers demonstrating.
Setyowati, or Ms. Atik as she was called, was head of human
resources at Fujiseat Indonesia. Speaking through the police she claimed that
the SERBUK action was misplaced, “The company has already reached an agreement
with SPK.” This statement was truly embarrassing while also implying one thing:
there was collusion occurring. Hearing this, the workers did not give up. They
continued waiting for a positive response but received nothing. Ofcourse, a
sense of disappointment descended upon us. That day we ended the action with no
result. But there was a sense of determination: there was a need to find a way
to resolve the issues. It must be done!
A rush of short messages
Because it was the month of Ramadhan, we decided to cool
down our activity and conserve our energy. Making use of the practice of
breaking the fast together, we went from house-to-house to strengthen
solidarity and share information. We were happy because getting closer to Eid,
in the lead-up to the holiday, the number of workers joining the meetings grew.
Several comrades who had received the Eid bonus pay took the initiative to use
the funds for meetings.
While waiting for the Eid long holiday, TABUR decided to
keep the pressure up on the company. Comrades decided that the head of HR,
Setyowati, was the key to the company’s stubborn nature. All decisions went
through Ms Atik, and unfortunately the Japanese boss trusted her. Seeing this,
a mischievous idea began to be discussed among comrades – a plan to send a wave
of text messages to her phone. In order to avoid criminal charges, all the
messages used the same language – a polite sentence of peace for the Idul Fitri
holiday. So in the last days before Ramadhan, a rush of messages were sent to
Ms Atik.
“Good
evening Ms Atik.
May your
fasting be filled with blessings.
But don’t
forget, after the Lebaran holiday we will be holding a protest.”
“Hello Ms
Atik, have you already broken your fast?
Hopefully
your meal was sweet.
But don’t
forget: we are coming again.”
“How were
your night prayers, Ms? Solemn?
Believe it,
we are currently seriously preparing for our action
At the
factory, after Lebaran.”
“Enjoy your
morning meal before the fast,
Remember,
don’t take too long a holiday.
We will meet after Lebaran.”
These messages were sent via SMS to Ms Atik in waves. In a
day, 5-6 times mass messaging would occur. Each time, at least 30-50 phones
would send a message. How noisy and uneasy the Lebaran holiday must have been
for Ms Atik. Right after the Eid prayers, we again began to send messages.
“Happy Idul
Fitri, Ms.
Asking for
forgiveness?
Remember, what is going to happen after Lebaran?”
We got news from our spy at the factory that Ms Atik and the
HRD staff had decided to end the Lebaran holiday early, meaning work would
recommence earlier. The onslaught of short messages had been truly effective.
Ms Atik’s legs were shackled.
After the Lebaran holiday, everyone returned to work. The
union consolidation continued, the meetings started up again, the development
of the plan matured. The cries of resistance that had been kept back, again
began to echo. An injection of enthusiasm from the Lebaran holiday thickened
the faith in the struggle. Like a mobile phone that has just been charged, our
spirit was full. Thursday 29 August 2013 became the date we chose to continue
with our action. We prepared everything as best as possible. The expected
turnout was carefully calculated, notice to the police was given, and awareness
of the situation in the factory was increased. In short, we didn’t want our
plan to fail just because of a miscalculation.
Our second action was eventually held at the right-side gate
of the factory. In truth, the left gate was more vital to the factory, as it
was the main gate. From the left gate, trucks leave the factory. The finished
seats from the factory and trucks carrying trolleys go back and forth through that
gate. However, due to various considerations we did not choose that gate.
Meanwhile, the middle gate was always shut. It had never been used. The
right-side gate that we chose to use was the entrance used by guests and
workers entering and leaving the factory, as well as the entrance used by
management.
Without a vehicle, armed only with a megaphone, we began the
action that day. One hour of speeches, but no response from management. Maybe
they were silent thinking our voices were only the sounds of the doves they
don’t like. Not long afterwards, a group of police entered the factory,
following another squad that were already guarding the inside of the fence. At
this moment, we began to send several messages through the factory security
guard, but there was no response. None.
Apparently, management was claiming that TABUR was nobody.
We suspect that the company’s attitude was strengthened by the false voices of
those against the struggle. While the action was taking place, we were shocked
by an event. All of a sudden, the head of the SPK union arrived at the factory.
His sleek, new motorbike appeared at the gate, right in front of where we were
gathered. Pausing for a moment at the security post, he was immediately given
entry into the lobby. This treatment was in stark contrast to how we had been
treated. We arrived, armed with a letter requesting a meeting, we waited over
an hour but had been ignored. The difference between those who stand upright
and struggle, and those who bow down to capitalists was made clear to us.
Impatient with waiting for a response from the company that
was never coming, and provoked by the situation, several protestors invited
their comrades to block the gate. This action triggered tension, there was a
tug-of-war with the security guards, and in the end the two metal gate doors
came down and the wheels broke. Riki managed to calm the situation and get the
protestors to retreat, while again trying to contact the company to negotiate.
Through one of the police officers on duty we were told that management was
willing to meet with us. Finally, we were able to send a delegation to
negotiate.
As we expected, negotiations were not conducive. The
company’s HRD remained in their original position. They were questioning the
validity of TABUR and with arrogance claiming that the problem with contract
work had been resolved. We heard again the same old statement used by HRD. This
time it came from Ms Atik, complete with a curt face, “The issue of contract
work is resolved. The company has already reached agreement with SPK”, she said
at the negotiation table.
We were inflamed. Anger rising. Our SMS’ were ignored, our
phone calls not answered, our letter not replied to, and now here in
negotiations we were being abused. Although the anger began to envelope our
thoughts, we tried not to lose control and we left the negotiating room without
chaos. The police commandant who had been in the room tried to calm us down. We
know that this was just a strategy to stop us rioting. To the HRD that was
standing at the door to the room, inviting us to leave as if forcing us out, we
slowly said, “We will come again.” Our threat was met coldly. We broke up our
action. A few days later, Riki and Maryadi along with several other comrades
that were accused of breaking the factory gates, were reported to the police.
Criminal!
As happens in many cases, a criminal report to the police is
a blow to the workers. Comrades in struggle can provide maximum support, but
the threat of being locked up remains a frightening prospect. The worker may be
strong, stubborn, and uncompromising, but their family will be upset. Their
wife will be weakened by worry with each call from the police. Really, a
perfect terror tactic. But strong determination will always be able to overcome
a variety of obstacles, even the different types of terror tactics that emerge.
The struggle must not recede. While strengthening the comrades facing the
police investigation, Riki remained firm in his leadership.
On the other hand, the resilience of the struggle shown by
the union began to be judged fairly by the masses. The number of members in the
factory began to grow and support continued to flow. When the first and second
actions were held, many workers watched through the windows on the second
floor. They asked about the action being held by Riki and his comrades. Amongst
them were many workers still on short-term contracts, never being made
permanent. At the time, they were not yet brave enough to join openly. After
the two actions, their eyes were opened, their hearts moved, and their courage
began to grow.
“If we continue to take action, actually we are saying to
them, to our comrades that do not yet understand, that there is a problem at
the factory, and in the old union,” said Riki one night during consolidation.
Everyone present nodded in agreement. Agreeing with Riki’s conclusion they
thought hard about what could be done. Nearing midnight, the meeting was closed
with one conclusion: hold an even bigger action. Block the factory! Whatever
the risk.
Our two comrades are shot
23 September 2013, that day 150 workers gathered. This time
the left-gate, the main artery of the factory, was chosen as the site of the
action. 11:30am the demonstrators were concentrated in a neat line. They were
still allowing large vehicles to pass through the gate. From a distance of
around 20 metres, the riot police were on standby inside the fence. The commander
could be seen giving directions. Only minutes after the police commander had
given his directions to the riot police troops, the head of the local sector
police sent an ultimatum demanding we immediately end the action. His delivery
was slow and calm, but it was intimidation. He claimed that if we did not
immediately end our action, the riot police would break it up.
At 1:00pm, the negotiating team met with the company to put
forward our demands. A repeat of our demands that we had already made clear on
29 August 2013. And as the company had made clear from the beginning, they
rejected all the workers’ demands. Waiting an hour, there was no significant
movement. Negotiation was reaching deadlock. We then left the company
conference room. Meanwhile, 150 protestors that had been gathered on the side
of the road began to block the gate. The atmosphere was heating up. From a
distance we saw the police commander arguing with several comrades.
A queue of trucks begun to be held up, visibly snaking
backwards both inside and outside the factory. Trucks coming from Sunter could
not get in, while those from inside could not get out. The degree of opposition
began to heat up, perhaps not long to boiling point. We were making the
calculations, as were the police. We counted that if we managed to hold our
picket for one hour, it would paralyse the factory’s operations. This would
have a flow-on effect of stopping production because there would be no trolleys
from the trucks available in the factory. Stopping production would certainly
make the bosses panic. It would mean disruption to the production targets, late
deliveries, and fines from the customers. We had certainly hit them in their
weakest spot.
Negotiations continued. Several comrades began to get
desperate in holding their ground. They kept getting pushed by the police, so
they decided to lie-down in front of the gate. The police were getting
impatient. Several of the comrades who were lying down were picked up and
thrown to the side of the road. For a moment the gate was opened and police
lined the side of the road to secure the vehicle entrance. The police took control
for thirty minutes. The protestors prepared their next step, prepared their
counter-attack. From a distance of around 50 metres, at the right-side gate,
police were also on guard. The local police were negotiating with several TABUR
comrades. They asked for coordination to decide whether the action would
continue or not.
While the negotiations were taking place, several comrades
who had escaped the watch of the police, began again to block the gate. This
time their numbers were greater as they lay across the ground in front of the
gate. The police were shocked and began to panic. Those of us currently
negotiating with the local police were surprised by the sound of gunfire.
Instantly white smoke began to billow, rolling in the air. Our eyes hurt. Tear
gas had been fired by police several lines back behind the factory wall.
Several comrades stayed lying in front of the gate, but others who didn’t
expect the firing got up with their eyes teary from the tear gas fumes.
We saw the riot police raging crazy. They were firing tear
gas as they liked to break up the workers’ demonstration. The commotion
continued as several police began to hit and kick the protestors while still
firing shots at the crowd of workers who were not putting up any resistance.
Some police officers aimed their weapons straight at workers. Setiyadi, a
worker from PT Siamindo that was there in solidarity, fell to the ground as a
shot hit his left temple and the wound began to bleed profusely.
Meanwhile on the right side, close to the iron fence, Nur
Akbar, a worker from PT Fujiseat, also fell with a wound to the back of the
head. Both victims were rushed to Az Zahra clinic in Telukjambe. Setiyadi
suffered quite a serious injury and had to get stitches. Meanwhile Nur Akbar
had fainted. The time had reached 1:45pm when the protest dispersed. After
reconvening, we continued our action at the Karawang parliament house.
Approaching midnight, we still hadn’t succeeding in meeting with a single
member of parliament. There were no representatives of the people to be found
when the people needed their assistance.
The situation was certainly not in the workers’ favour, but
through Facebook and Youtube news of the shooting began to spread among
comrades and through networks. That night felt like a very long night. We began
to realise that we could trace back the shooting to PT Fujiseat. We sent
comrades to search for evidence that could be used to report the case. Several
comrades went to the scene of the crime but could find nothing. The location of
the shooting had been cleaned thoroughly and was being tightly guarded by
police with rifles.
Yati Andriyani, coordinator of The Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) then phoned us. She asked us to send
photos and a chronology of what occurred. We also provided several important
telephone numbers of Karawang police officers. It was a tense night. We refused
to allow several of our comrades to stay the night at the secretariat. Past
midnight, we got the support from Kontras to make the complaint to the Police
Headquarters of Professional and Security Division (Propam) and the National
Police Commission (Kompolas).
The next day, Tuesday 24 September 2013 after dawn we drove
to Jakarta. After meeting with several representatives of Kontras, tidying up
our documents and completing our chronology, we made our way to the police
headquarters. A Kontras official, Arif Nurfikri, accompanied us to make the
complaint about the shooting incident to Propam and Kompolnas. After the Ashar
prayers, the next complaint was delivered to the National Human Rights
Commission (Komnas HAM). Through a press statement, Kontras condemned the
shooting and urged the National Police Chief to remove the Karawang Police
Chief and Telukjambe Police Chief from their positions.
The clashes with the police and the shooting of two workers
did not succeed in dampening our struggle. If anything, the event became a
turning point. It revived the spirit of the workers to continue the fight.
Comrades continued to spread the news of the shooting on Facebook. Solidarity
and sympathy continued to flow. Although, we also experienced comments of
ridicule from those opposed to our struggle. Meanwhile the situation at the
factory began to subside. Several police officers could still be seen guarding
the gate. Although it seemed calm, it felt like there was still an ember under
the chaff. Still alight.
The campaign spreads, resistance continues
The shooting in front of the factory confirmed the fighting
spirit. The incident kept the flame of resistance burning. We did not slow our
pace, but instead became more steadfast. The resistance strategy was replaced
with a campaign. Through Facebook and other media, we sought to highlight our
comrades’ struggle. Knowing all this, the company gave no response. It seemed
they were waiting for the situation to calm down while continuing to intimidate
the union members. Several comrades even received letters of dismissal, with
the reason given that they had reached the end of their contracts. The process
with the police was also ongoing. Summons upon summons was made in relation to
the fence being ruined.
After Kontras had filed the report about the shooting to
Propam, several police continued to contact Riki. They requested to meet with
him. We ignored all the requests. We were sure that the requests were in
relation to the development of the case we had reported. At the same time,
TABUR had succeeded in pressuring the head of Karawang parliament to summon the
company’s management to a meeting. Setiyadi, one of the victims of the
shooting, urged the parliament to form a special committee to investigate the
shooting. Furthermore, it was not just an issue for workers at Fujiseat, but
Karawang is an industrial city with escalating workers’ actions towards which
the police should be acting professionally and not acting to repress the
actions.
TABUR continued to hold solidarity actions in several
cities. We received solidarity from comrades in Surabaya, Jakarta, Makassar and
Semarang. They held actions at Daihatsu dealers. For us, the campaign that was
spreading would become a new ammunition after our action at the factory had
been repressed by the police. These actions made Daihatsu furious. They argued
that they had nothing to do with the problems and demands we were fighting for.
We didn’t care, except for one thing, the drum had been beaten, there was no
going back.
The actions deliberately targeted Daihatsu. We sent messages
to Daihatsu and urged them to pressure PT Fujiseat Indonesia to respect workers’
rights to form a union, to end the intimidation, and to reinstate the fired
workers, as well as implement a collective agreement relating to converting
fixed-term contract workers into permanent employment. PT Fujiseat is a
manufacturer of car seats for Daihatsu cars, including Ayla, a cheap car being
promoted by the government. In our opinion, Daihatsu has the responsibility to
pressure PT Fujiseat Indonesia as their vendor. After coordinating with
Ilhamsyah, the head of the Port Transport Workers Union (SBTPI), we received
support to hold an action at the Daihatsu head office in Sunter, North Jakarta.
On motorbikes, 15 workers and two representatives of SERBUK
Fujiseat held an action at the company’s gate. Although there were only 15
people protesting, there was heavy security. 3-4 riot police cars were on
guard. On this occasion, in his speech, Riki stressed that, “We will urge
Daihatsu to join in pressuring Fujiseat. Fujiseat has not been subject to the
law.”
At this action, it was also emphasised that Daihatsu should
terminate its contract with Fujiseat and if Daihatsu did not act, a campaign
would be rolled out that declares Daihatsu as a participant in the violation of
the human rights of workers. We felt this was the right tactic. Finally, we
received some good news after the delegation managed to meet with Daihatsu
management. After being shown several videos and photos of the actions across
different cities, they agreed to support the resolution of the case. They
immediately phoned the PT Fujiseat Indonesia management in Karawang to resolve
the case.
A month after the action at the Daihatsu office, PT Fujiseat
Indonesia management invited us to negotiate. Agreement was reached. On their
own volition, several comrades that had been fired received the compensation
offered by the company. Members of SERBUK still working at the company on
fixed-term contracts immediately got their rights: they were made permanent.
From Kontras we received news that several of the police involved in the
shooting were transferred to distant places. The fruit of the struggle one by
one could be tasted. The fruit could be picked having gone from the stages of planting
persistence and sowing confidence through dripping sweat, and even drops of
blood. The drops of blood of two of our comrades that were shot one afternoon
at the gate of Fujiseat Indonesia.
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