Women in Trade Unions

no big gains for women workers

By Sarah Gardner

Some of the most prominent figures in Indonesia's labour movement have been women.

Dita Sari, who was imprisoned by the New Order, is now Chairperson of National Front for Indoensian Workers' Struggle (FNPBI), one of the most vocal post-reformasi trade unions.

It has been five years since the Habibie government ratified the core International Labour Conventions, which officially brought freedom of association to Indonesia and gave workers the right to form and join unions other than the state-run Federation of All-Indonesia Unions (FSPSI). Yet despite the prominence of Dita Sari and others, progress towards equality for women in paid employment and in trade unions has been slow.

(Inside Indoensia, no. 76, October-December 2003)