
Issue No 54		19 May 2000

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International

Sony's Asian Showdown

By Andrew Casey

The Japanese electronic giant Sony is threatening to shutdown production facilities in Indonesia - where a prolonged strike has cost it US$200milliom - and move to next door Malaysia where electronic workers are banned from forming a union.

Foreign companies are at this moment trying to shutdown the burgeoning Indonesian trade union movement by playing off Indonesia against Malaysia.

The Sony workers - many of whom are members of the Indonesian Metal Workers Union - have staged a sit-in for nearly a month in the plant's export area, but there has been industrial disputation at the site since February.

Judy Winarno - an official of the Metal Workers Union - told the Jakarta Post that the Sony plant had intimidated workers trying to form an active union by last year firing one union activist - Gama Juliyanto - for no clear reasons.

" The company has stopped workers from receiving phone calls - even from their families - and told workers that they had to report to their supervisors if they want to go to the toilet," Mr Winarno said.

The democratic space created after the defeat of the Suharto regime, and the election of President Wiranto, has seen a blossoming of working class activity in Indonesia.

Everyone from streetsweepers to teachers are forming unions and putting demands on employers and government to improve pay and working conditions.

The visit to Australia next week of Ms Hemasari Dharmabumi, who is the Indonesian representative of the food, agriculture, hotel, restaurant and catering industries union international (IUF), will give Australians another opportunity to get first hand information about Indonesian union activity.

Ms Dharmabumi - who is being sponsored by the Australian union aid agency APHEDA- will be able to outline what solidarity actions unions in this country can take in support of Sony workers and other union activists.

Meanwhile in Malaysia the Government is resisting demands from the Malaysian TUC for the establishment of a minimum wage law, and has banned electronic workers from forming a union.

The President of the Malaysian TUC, Zainal Rampak, says while the Malaysian government doesn't want minimum wage laws most of the country's neighbours - the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and even East Timor - have now established these benchmarks, or are about to introduce legislation.

On the dissident pro-reform website - malaysiakini.com - the Secretary of the Malaysian Transport Equipment and Allied Industries Equipment Employees Union, Syed Sharir, has backed the international union movement's claims that labour issues should be central to international trade talks.

" It's naive to say that labor (and environmental issues) and trade are not linked,' the trade unionist told malaysiakini.com earlier this week.

" To attract more foreign investors, the development of unions in certain countries is hindered ( thus affecting the workers' welfare). In Malaysia, one good example is the electronics industry ," Syed told malaysiakini.com.

The Straits Times in Singapore has quoted a representative of the Indonesian Business Council as saying that at least 20 foreign firms were thinking of leaving Indonesia because of worker protests and shifting to Malaysia.

Malaysiakini.com recently ran a long feature suggesting that the Malaysian government of Dr Mahatir had become a coloniser because ' the most basic trait of a coloniser is to exploit workers'.

The Sony production facility in Indonesia normally has a workforce of 1500 producing about 4000 audio and television sets a day.

But a series of disputes since February has seen production cut by more than a quarter, with less than half the employees turning up for work.

On April 26 the Sony workers - most of them in work uniforms - marched down to the United Nations building in Central Jakarta to protest their treatment and handed out leaflets to motorists asking for their support by boycotting Sony products.

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  Issue 54 contents

Interview: South of the Border
Victorian Trades Hall chief Leigh Hubbard on life under Bracks, militant unionism and why more people march in Melbourne.

Politics: Jeff Shaw's Second Wave
The full text of the NSW Industrial Relations Minister's speech to Labor Council announcing the Carr Government's IR reform agenda.

Unions: Reith's Laws: Just Say NO
The ACTU has called on Labor and the Democrats to reject Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's anti-industry bargaining Workplace Relations 2000 Bill out right.

History: A Breed Of Their Own
Labour historian Greg Patmore explains what makes his fraternity tick - and why they're still going strong and making history.

International: Sony's Asian Showdown
The Japanese electronic giant Sony is threatening to shutdown production facilities in Indonesia - where a prolonged strike has cost it US$200milliom - and move to next door Malaysia where electronic workers are banned from forming a union.

Human Rights: Good Guys, Bad Guys
Everywhere we look -in our newspapers, on the television, in reports by business leaders, academics and politicians - advocacy of human rights seems to be on a collision course with governmental and business interests.

Review: New Workers, New Challenges
A new wave of thought is arguing that working life is changing - but this doesn't necessarily deal unions out the action.

Satire: Rain Man Withdraws Endorsement of Qantas
After the third major safety incident in the space of a year, Qantas has lost the confidence of the most famous public supporter of its once unblemished safety record, the autistic star of Rain Man, Raymond.

» Carr Moves on Casuals

» Democrats Wavering on Reith Bill

» Exit Visas for Child Care Workers

» GST Pay Claims to Target Allowances

» Tide Turns On Competitive Tendering

» Joy Takes Message To The World

» Mines Out as Rio Tinto Torps Talks

» Political Economy for Activists, 2000

» Unions March for Reconciliation

» STOP PRESS: AK-47s used in coup against union-aligned Fiji Labour Government