BY PIP HINMAN
SYDNEY — Romawaty Sinaga, the international officer of the militant Indonesian National Front for Workers Struggle (FNPBI), in Australia to meet other trade unionists, has appealed for greater assistance for the emerging independent union movement in her country.
Commencing a two-week speaking tour, Sinaga told Melbourne unionists that the worsening economic crisis has greatly increased workers' requests to the FNPBI for assistance in waging campaigns.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Sinaga said that, despite its new legal status, her union still faces harassment by private security guards and the armed forces. A proposed law will give the state even greater powers to interfere in workers' organisations, she warned.
Sinaga is optimistic about convincing Australian unions to sponsor union organisers and the FNPBI's journal. Her tour has been supported by several unions, including the AMWU; the Maritime Union; the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, and education unions.
The FNPBI, established just over a year ago, is led by former political prisoner Dita Sari. Despite its scant resources, the union has been at the forefront of an Indonesia-wide struggle against government cuts to subsidies on essential goods and services.
It is also leading a campaign for a minimum 100% wage rise and has been a prominent opponent of the military's involvement in politics, including the recent decision to allow the military to maintain its 38 unelected seats in the national parliament.
Besides meeting with union officials, Sinaga will visit construction sites and factories in Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney and Canberra. Sinaga has timed her visit to participate in the many discussions on workers' resistance to corporate globalisation which will precede the Melbourne S11 protests against the World Economic Forum. She will address three conferences in Melbourne, one of which will feature renowned Indian feminist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva.
Sinaga will also be the keynote speaker, along with Francisco Pascual from the Philippine People's Development Resource Centre, at the "Globalisation and Corporate Tyranny: labour movement resistance in the Asia-Pacific" seminar in Sydney on September 2.
Sinaga's tour is being organised by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor. For more information, see the listings on pages 30-31, email <asiet@asiet.org.au> or phone (02) 9690 1032.