Organisasi Regional IUF Asia/Pasifik bekerja sama dengan Departemen Psikologi Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Negeri Surabaya [UNESA] menyelenggarakan magang pada paruh pertama tahun 2023. Tiga mahasiswa psikologi sosial, Nuha, Najwa Athiyatul Mila dan Aliifah Shafa Rani melakukan studi terhadap pemuda di serikat pekerja di sektor Hotel & Pariwisata, Layanan Makanan serta Makanan & Minuman di Indonesia.
Bekerja dengan FSPM dan FSBMM yang berafiliasi dengan IUF, peserta magang melakukan wawancara kelompok ekstensif dengan para pemimpin dan anggota muda untuk mengeksplorasi beberapa aspek pengambilan keputusan di kalangan pemuda.
Melalui studi ini alat konseptual utama dikembangkan untuk memberikan pemahaman yang lebih baik tentang kebutuhan pemuda, termasuk “youth space”. Berdasarkan wawancara dengan pemuda, penelitian ini merancang konsep “cycle of youth space” yang dikombinasikan dengan “cycle of youth in unions” untuk menjelaskan dinamika serikat pekerja-pemuda (identitas sosial dan ruang).
Konsep “nyaman” dimasukkan ke dalam “youth space” untuk lebih menjelaskan kebutuhan pemuda berdasarkan hasil wawancara. Hal ini ternyata memberikan wawasan yang berharga mengenai cara-cara di mana serikat pekerja harus berubah untuk memastikan lebih banyak pemuda bergabung dan aktif di serikat.
Melalui penelitian ini para peserta magang tidak hanya mengembangkan konsep-konsep penting ini untuk memahami pemuda dalam serikat pekerja. Mereka juga dapat memberikan wawasan yang lebih luas tentang kegiatan serikat pekerja yang independen dan demokratis seperti FSPM dan FSBMM serta menantang persepsi publik yang salah tentang serikat pekerja di Indonesia sebagai “pembuat onar”.
Berbeda sekali dengan persepsi publik tentang serikat pekerja sebagai organisasi yang terlibat dalam protes kekerasan, mengganggu lalu lintas dan mengganggu ketertiban dan ketenteraman umum, studi ini mengungkapkan bahwa serikat pekerja seperti FSPM dan FSBMM terlibat dalam demonstrasi damai yang diperlukan untuk mengekspresikan solidaritas dan empati (“peduli”) untuk orang lain yang menghadapi ketidakadilan dari pemberi kerja. Selain itu, dengan melihat serikat melalui anggota pemuda, penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa serikat-serikat ini berkomitmen untuk pendidikan dan pelatihan, mengembangkan pengetahuan dan keterampilan yang memberdayakan anggota serikat dan mengembangkan generasi pemimpin berikutnya.
Bagian yang tidak terlihat dari kegiatan serikat inilah yang harus mendapat perhatian lebih untuk mengubah persepsi publik.
Persepsi masyarakat terhadap serikat pekerja perlu diubah, sehingga masyarakat dapat melihat nilai-nilai sejati serikat pekerja (“peduli”), komitmen tulus mereka untuk memperlakukan pekerja secara adil, serta pendidikan dan pelatihan yang mengembangkan pengetahuan dan pemahaman, serta membangun kepercayaan diantara para pemuda. Dengan memperbaiki persepsi publik tentang serikat pekerja dan melihat pandangan baru melalui pemuda dalam serikat pekerja, pemuda tidak akan lagi menghadapi tekanan dari keluarga dan teman untuk tidak bergabung dengan serikat pekerja. Sebaliknya, mereka harus bangga bergabung dengan organisasi yang menyediakan ruang aman bagi pemuda yang “nyaman” dan memberi mereka pengakuan yang layak mereka terima.
The IUF Asia/Pacific Regional Organization in partnership with the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, State University of Surabaya [UNESA] organized an internship in the first half of 2023. Three social psychology students, Nuha, Najwa Athiyatul Mila and Aliifah Shafa Rani undertook a study of youth in unions in the Hotel & Tourism, Food Services and Food & Beverage sectors in Indonesia.
Working with the IUF-affiliated FSPM and FSBMM, the interns conducted extensive group interviews with young leaders and members to explore several aspects of decision-making among youth.
Through this study key conceptual tools were developed that provide a better understanding of the needs of youth, including “youth space”. Based on the interviews with youth, the study designed the concept of the “cycle of youth space” combined with the “cycle of youth in unions” to explain the youth-union dynamic (social identity and space).
The concept of “nyaman” (comfortable) was incorporated into “youth space” to better explain the needs of youth based on the interview results. This in turn provides valuable insights into the ways in which unions must change to ensure more youth join and are active unions.
Through this study the interns not only developed these important concepts for understanding youth in unions. They were also able to give greater insight into the activities of independent, democratic trade unions such as FSPM and FSBMM and challenge the incorrect public perception of trade unions in Indonesia as “trouble makers”.
In sharp contrast to the public perception of unions as organizations engaged in violent protests, disrupting traffic and disturbing public order and peace, the study reveals that trade unions like FSPM and FSBMM are engaged in peaceful, necessary demonstrations that express solidarity and empathy (“peduli”) for others facing injustice and mistreatment by employers. Moreover, by taking a fresh look at unions through youth members, the study shows that these unions are committed to education and training, developing knowledge and skills that empower union members and develops the next generation of leaders.
It is this unseen part of union activities that should receive more attention to change public perceptions.
It is necessary to change public perceptions of unions, so that the public sees the genuine values of trade unions (“peduli”), their sincere commitment to fair treatment of workers, and their education and training that develops knowledge and understanding, and builds confidence among young people. By correcting the public perception of unions and taking a fresh look through the eyes of youth in unions, youth will no longer face pressure from family and friends to avoid joining unions. Instead, they should be proud of joining and organization that provides youth with the safe space that is “nyaman” and gives them the recognition they deserve.
On International Workers’ Day we will have all sorts of demands in different countries, depending on different situations. But I think what unites us is that we know that working people deserve better. We know that we need to come together to build the economic, political and social power to make the changes needed so that we will never again face a pandemic like this and a crisis like this. So that we will never again see such suffering and hardship on this scale.
We need to ensure that everyone has access to universal free health care and that everyone’s jobs and incomes and livelihoods are protected. We must ensure that there are public goods and services to provide for us. We need to rebuild quality education, quality housing, quality healthcare. And the only way to rebuild that is to ensure there is corporate taxation, capital gains tax – that we tax the rich. We must shift wealth to working people. We must shift wealth to all the public services and public goods that are needed by working people. This must happen.
It’s no longer a policy debate. It’s absolutely a matter of our survival and this pandemic has shown us that.
Links to the video message with subtitles in different languages:
In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Employees Union (SDDEU) in Baramati extended support for contract and casual workers, ensuring free PPE and financial support. Despite the challenges in the pandemic, the SDDEU also continued to negotiate the conversion of casual workers to permanent jobs.
Brother Nanaso Thorat, SDDEU President, presents a permanent appointment letter
On February 11, 2021, 20 casual workers were appointed to permanent positions. This included workers who were casuals for more than 15 years. This is the result of a sustained effort by the union to tackle precarious employment over the past ten years.
While the Nepal tourism industry faces a crisis in the ongoing global pandemic, trade unions in Nepal active in the hotel sector succeeded in defending the jobs and livelihoods of hotel and tourism workers. The active unions, including the IUF-affiliated Nepal Independent Hotel Workers Union [NIHWU], negotiated an agreement with the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) to guarantee the job security of hotel workers.
The agreement, which covers a one year period from January 1 to December 31, 2021, guarantees that no hotel workers will be laid off.
“We secured jobs as our first priority. So even those not working at all will still keep their jobs,” said Surya Bahadur, President NIHWU. “When the lock-down is over and business returns to normal, hotel workers will not need to search for jobs with rising unemployment. They will return to work, which is their right.”
Under the agreement hotel workers will also be paid wages according to a schedule of days worked. Any worker working more than fifteen days in a month will receive the full monthly wage.
If we can imagine a resilient, sustainable food system that is environmentally sustainable, protects biodiversity, reduces carbon emissions and mitigates climate change, restores bee populations, reduces pesticide use, removes harmful pesticides, reduces food loss and food waste, and produces enough food to satisfy the universal right to food and nutrition … then why can we still not imagine agricultural work being a good job?
Formal waged employment in agriculture constitutes 28% of the global workforce. Workers on farms and plantations constitute the largest group of agricultural producers in the world. Over two thirds of the 1.1 billion people engaged in agriculture are farm workers, both formal and informal. This includes migrant and seasonal workers, marginal and landless farmers who rely on seasonal employment, and the vast informal sector of farm workers paid not in cash but in kind.
No doubt there is a complex interaction of environmental, climate, health, economic, social and political factors that must be addressed comprehensively to ensure inclusive, sustainable, and resilient food systems. In doing so we should recognize that farm workers constitute the majority of those contributing to agriculture and their labour contributes to change. Farm workers must be an integral part of this transformation. Yes, it is common sense. But it could be one of the most difficult challenges we face.
First, there is a lot of attention given to the “voices” of workers in farms, fields and plantations. But too often agricultural workers’ voices are included when addressing pesticides, hunger, poverty wages, child labour, gender equality and discrimination. But when the social audit, research, conference, mission, or project is over – their voices are silenced, or no longer heard. Farm workers’ voices can only be heard consistently and have a real impact if they are expressed through collective representation, and that this representation is through resilient organizations freely formed by farm workers, for farm workers.
Second, there is something inherently negative in our view of agricultural work. At the height of the pandemic, with rising unemployment, lockdowns and strict border closures, governments were still flying or trucking in migrant workers to work on farms and plantations. Apparently, this is work that no one wants to do.
One reason is that vulnerability has become so integral to agricultural employment. To pay the lowest wages possible, to compel workers to work in hazardous conditions, to handle toxic pesticides, to work long hours in fields without water or food or toilet facilities, to work without complaint … this is all built on vulnerability. Migrant workers, women workers, refugees, undocumented and displaced, indebted, and without community support – are all common characteristics that speak to vulnerability. This vulnerability means that agricultural work can continue to be brutal, underpaid, insecure and dangerous. Because workers cannot speak out, they cannot complain, they cannot say “no!” – they have no voice and no choice.
If we add the social, physical and economic vulnerability of women continuously manufactured by patriarchy, then we can see the systemic vulnerability at the heart of all food systems.
If we look at the farmer protests in India today, we see farmers rising up to protect their livelihoods, land and food security. We support that. What we do not see is that rice and wheat farmers in Punjab and Haryana who receive crop price support from the government (because these crops are essential to food security) refuse to employ local farm workers. They complain that local farm workers want higher wages and won’t work long hours. So they bring migrant workers from the poorest states of Bihar or Uttar Pradesh to work in their fields. Coming from poverty – many of them climate migrants (farmers forced off their land due to climate change) – and displaced, they are vulnerable. They work in hazardous conditions and are paid poverty wages. In this way government crop price support benefits farmers but does not translate into living wages for farm workers.
The point is that the vulnerability of agricultural workers is deliberate and constructed. Vulnerability is integral to agricultural work because farmers, buyers, traders, food companies and supermarkets have built food systems that rely on this vulnerability for flexibility, efficiency and profit. This is one of several factors that makes our current food systems inherently unsustainable and unjust.
This poses an important question about the approach of certain kinds of non-government organizations, foundations, CSR and social auditing bodies that assume vulnerability is an inherent condition of agriculture and agricultural work. Workers’ voices appear as examples of poverty and inequality and abusive practices (testimonies) and solutions are crafted for them. Living wage plans, livelihood schemes, fair crop prices, all attempt to lift farm workers and their families out of poverty. These organizations assume that workers are too vulnerable to speak for themselves. Yet in speaking for workers, they end up speaking instead of workers.
This approach is unsustainable because it implicitly accepts the existing vulnerability as given. Such approaches are unsustainable because nothing is done to address the underlying causes of this vulnerability. And these approaches are exclusive because farm workers are excluded from collective decision-making and authority when it comes to creating and implementing solutions.
Remaking food systems to become fairer, more equitable and sustainable requires a more fundamental social and political transformation that removes vulnerability as a necessary condition of agricultural work. Again, this is common sense. But it will not happen unless we ensure that farm workers have the collective power to overcome and dismantle their systemic vulnerability.
What is needed is a legal and political environment in which farm workers can exercise their universal human right to freedom of association.
One hundred years ago the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations guaranteed this right when it adopted International Labour Convention No.11 Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921. Article 1 of the Convention explains the purpose is to:
…. secure to all those engaged in agriculture the same rights of association and combination as to industrial workers, and to repeal any statutory or other provisions restricting such rights in the case of those engaged in agriculture.
This is based on the understanding that freedoms exist because of what others cannot do to you. In this case it means governments and employers cannot restrict or limit in any way farm workers’ ability to associate and combine together to collectively represent themselves.
More importantly, this is the right of farm workers to combine together to counter-balance the power of governments and employers. This combination gives farm workers the collective bargaining power to secure safe work and negotiate living wages.
While the reality is that most agricultural workers today cannot access their right to freedom of association, several kinds of foundations, NGOs and community organizations play an important role in exposing exploitative conditions and raising rights issues. Yet in addressing this exploitation and rights violations we must work together to identify what is preventing workers from organizing themselves. We need to remove these restrictions to ensure freedom of association.
Through their unions farm workers can negotiate living wages and fair wages and not have it imposed on them. Through collective bargaining farm workers can lift themselves and their families out of poverty. And as the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations has recognized, consultation cannot be a substitute for collective bargaining.
In a broader sense sustainability needs governance or oversight. There is no greater oversight than what agricultural workers see every day: they see what is happening, they see the changes, or lack of change, because in the most practical way they are doing it. This then creates an important role for agricultural workers’ unions in ensuring sustainable farming in practice.
As farm workers combine to counter-balance the power of governments and employers, we can ensure a creative tension that propels sustainability forward. Without this daily, organized pushback in fields, farms and plantations, there is nothing to keep employers and governments on the right path to sustainability.
Ultimately it is through this combination and association in trade unions, exercising collective bargaining power and collective representation, that farm workers can overcome and eliminate the vulnerability deliberately built into agricultural work by farmers, buyers, traders, food companies and supermarkets. Vulnerability will no longer be an integral aspect of agricultural work and working in agriculture – feeding the world – can finally be a good job.
Organisasi Regional IUF Asia/Pasifik bekerja sama dengan Departemen Psikologi Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Negeri Surabaya [UNESA] menyelenggarakan magang pada paruh pertama tahun 2023. Tiga mahasiswa psikologi sosial, Nuha, Najwa Athiyatul Mila dan Aliifah Shafa Rani melakukan studi terhadap pemuda di serikat pekerja di sektor Hotel & Pariwisata, Layanan Makanan serta Makanan & Minuman di Indonesia.
Melalui studi ini alat konseptual utama dikembangkan untuk memberikan pemahaman yang lebih baik tentang kebutuhan pemuda, termasuk “youth space”. Berdasarkan wawancara dengan pemuda, penelitian ini merancang konsep “cycle of youth space” yang dikombinasikan dengan “cycle of youth in unions” untuk menjelaskan dinamika serikat pekerja-pemuda (identitas sosial dan ruang).
Melalui penelitian ini para peserta magang tidak hanya mengembangkan konsep-konsep penting ini untuk memahami pemuda dalam serikat pekerja. Mereka juga dapat memberikan wawasan yang lebih luas tentang kegiatan serikat pekerja yang independen dan demokratis seperti FSPM dan FSBMM serta menantang persepsi publik yang salah tentang serikat pekerja di Indonesia sebagai “pembuat onar”.
Berbeda sekali dengan persepsi publik tentang serikat pekerja sebagai organisasi yang terlibat dalam protes kekerasan, mengganggu lalu lintas dan mengganggu ketertiban dan ketenteraman umum, studi ini mengungkapkan bahwa serikat pekerja seperti FSPM dan FSBMM terlibat dalam demonstrasi damai yang diperlukan untuk mengekspresikan solidaritas dan empati (“peduli”) untuk orang lain yang menghadapi ketidakadilan dari pemberi kerja. Selain itu, dengan melihat serikat melalui anggota pemuda, penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa serikat-serikat ini berkomitmen untuk pendidikan dan pelatihan, mengembangkan pengetahuan dan keterampilan yang memberdayakan anggota serikat dan mengembangkan generasi pemimpin berikutnya.
Persepsi masyarakat terhadap serikat pekerja perlu diubah, sehingga masyarakat dapat melihat nilai-nilai sejati serikat pekerja (“peduli”), komitmen tulus mereka untuk memperlakukan pekerja secara adil, serta pendidikan dan pelatihan yang mengembangkan pengetahuan dan pemahaman, serta membangun kepercayaan diantara para pemuda. Dengan memperbaiki persepsi publik tentang serikat pekerja dan melihat pandangan baru melalui pemuda dalam serikat pekerja, pemuda tidak akan lagi menghadapi tekanan dari keluarga dan teman untuk tidak bergabung dengan serikat pekerja. Sebaliknya, mereka harus bangga bergabung dengan organisasi yang menyediakan ruang aman bagi pemuda yang “nyaman” dan memberi mereka pengakuan yang layak mereka terima.
In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Employees Union (SDDEU) in Baramati extended support for contract and casual workers, ensuring free PPE and financial support. Despite the challenges in the pandemic, the SDDEU also continued to negotiate the conversion of casual workers to permanent jobs.
“We secured jobs as our first priority. So even those not working at all will still keep their jobs,” said Surya Bahadur, President NIHWU. “When the lock-down is over and business returns to normal, hotel workers will not need to search for jobs with rising unemployment. They will return to work, which is their right.”