On February 27, 2025, the Indonesia Joint Youth Meeting took place in Yogyakarta, bringing together 35 youth from FSPM, FSBMM, and PERKASA. The meeting was held to share and discuss the challenge of organizing youth in unions in the informal economy, just transitions & skills in the context of new technology, automation and climate change, Effective Leadership Program, and NextGEN Program.
The meeting was started by the opening remark from brother Imam, FSBMM’s Youth Leader, that addressed the need for young people in the union to be more involved in the union’s activity either in the meeting, organizing the union, or becoming the part of a leadership. Brother Imam said, the youth involvement is necessary because youth is the Next Generation of the union.
Youth involvement in organizing is seen by what happened in Serikat Pekerja Mandiri Pariwisata Yogyakarta (SPMPARYO-Independence Union of Yogyakarta Tourism) where Brother Janu, the elected president of SPMPARYO, shared his struggles regarding the challenge to organize workers in informal economy. He said that there is still a lot of negative judgement going on among informal workers about unions that makes it difficult for him and other organizers to convince them to become part of the union. Despite the challenge, Brother Janu and SPMPARYO organizers make different strategies to ensure more workers in the informal sector get enough information about the union. He and his team make one database that has all of the information regarding the union, what union do, their activities, etc. Then, they make the database as a QR Code and make it into a sticker. So when they’re organizing in one area, they will distribute the sticker to all the informal workers that present.
Brother Janu from SPMPARYO is explaining the challenge in organizing workers in informal economy.
QR stickers: one of the organizing tools from SPMPARYO.
Climate change is part of the main discussion in this meeting. As we all know that youth would be the one who face the great impact of climate change so the union should take a step to help all the workers minimize the impact. FSBMM’s youth committee did the training with WALHI, an NGO who focused on climate change, to understand more about climate change and its impact on workers. Through the training, the representatives of FSBMM’s youth committee shared that climate change does impact the workers. For instance, the quality of the milk that cows produce will be decreased in the dry season because food supply for the cows will be difficult to get. Union can help to minimize the impact to the workers with collective agreement, including the clause about climate change will help workers to get as minimum impact from climate change.
Brother Humam from FSBMM is explaining the impact of climate change to the workers.
In line with the meeting theme, “Youth in Unions – Building Union Power for the Future,” this meeting focuses on how important young people are for the future of unions. To ensure they’re ready to take on leadership roles, we want to help build their confidence in decision-making. By giving them the tools and support they need, we can help them feel more confident about shaping the future of unions.
Additionally, the meeting aimed to engage youth in interactive sessions that emphasized critical thinking, collective action, and strategic organizing. These activities encouraged youth to take a more active role in union work, contribute to policy discussions, and advocate for workers’ rights both locally and globally. Moving forward, these activities should be followed by a more in-depth training on effective leadership.
Youth’s engaging in leadership group work.
It is key to create a space where young people feel comfortable and safe within the union. When they feel supported and heard, they’re more likely to speak up and take action. This kind of environment helps boost their confidence and leadership skills. By focusing on both, we’re not just preparing youth for the future – we’re building the future of unions together.