The paper evaluates the Indonesian trade union movement involvement in two different yet closely related events between 2010 and 2014. The first of these events is involvement in the social security campaign in 2010, which has coloured the emergence of an unprecedented new kind of trade union movement manifested in the Action Committee for Social Security Reform (Komite Aksi Jaminan Sosial, KAJS), a national alliance of unions dedicated to pushing for reforms of the universal social security system. The second is the involvement in electoral politics through legislative and presidential elections in 2014, as well as the opportunities and challenges that accompany it. In its efforts to become an effective political power the Indonesian trade union movement has had variable success when it comes to the two campaigns. The overestimation of their strength fresh from their success from the social security campaign, combined with the over-dominance of the union leaders, contributed to the failure of the latter foray into electoral politics. These two events, nevertheless, show the importance of societal power and the potential of the trade union movement to make an alternative class political power that can be expected in Indonesia.
Full-length Study(PDF) : Trade Union Movement and Democracy in Indonesia: 2010, 2014, and Beyond by Surya Tjandra
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/13640.pdf
Promising Potential, Badly Managed by Surya Tjandra
https://www.fes.de/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=31092&token=3869859cfe4c6a0af927dc94fb3cfff18d41bab3
Surya Tjandra
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