The No Sweat protest letter

We invite British trade unionists, student unionists and all campaigners, to support the Indonesian unions which face new anti-union laws, and to oppose the crackdown on union activists which has followed the recent mass protests against this proposed legislation.

Text and background information, below...
Please add your name(s) to the protest letter below. It will be presented to the representatives of the Indonesian government at the embassy (38 Grosvenor Sq, central London; Bond St tube) at 4.30 on Tuesday
17 September.

Why not bring a placard and help us at this short protest?

To add your name(s) please email us at mailto: admin@nosweat.org.uk.

If you want to send an individual protest letter it should go to the Indonesian embassy, 38 Grosvenor Square,
London W1K 2HW; fax 020 7491 4993. And to Megawati Sukarno Putri, President of the Republic of Indonesia, fax: 00 62 21 345 2685


The letter

"We would like to express our opposition to the new labour laws being proposed by the Indonesian government.
"The new legislation - the proposed PPHI and PPK laws - aims to restrict trade unionists' ability to campaign
and organise for workers' rights.
"From our own experience in Britain, where anti-union legislation has seriously restricted the trade unions' ability to effectively represent workers, we know how important it is to help our brothers and sisters in Indonesia prevent the implementation of this legislation.
"We know about the large protests being organised by Indonesian unions against these proposed laws - and the violence and repression which has been used to try to halt these protests. We hold your government
directly responsible for the injuries to workers caused by the police, and for the arrests of union organisers.
"We oppose the clampdown on union activists currently underway in Indonesia; we demand the release of all
labour movement activists currently in detention; we want the Indonesian government to drop its - highly
unpopular - attempt to force the PPHI and PPK laws on to the Indonesian labour movement."

Background

In October 2002 the Megawati-Hamzah Indonesian government aims to ratify two pieces of new labour legislation - the PPHI (industrial disputes settlement law) and the PPK (manpower protection law).

These proposed laws are anti-union laws and attempt to regulate conflicts between employers and workers
in the interests of the employers. Union activity will be restricted to factory-level issues, and unions will be
prevented from opposing the government's economic and political policies. Workers will also be prevented
from demonstrating while negotiations with management take place.

This new legislation will further restrict Indonesian workers' freedom of association, and violate workers' rights to negotiate and to strike.

For the rest of the background (fairly detailed) please follow this link:
 http://www.nosweat.org.uk/article.php?sid=265

No Sweat, PO Box 36707, London SW9 8YA. phone/text 07904 431 959.
 http://www.nosweat.org.uk mailto: admin@nosweat.org.uk