AUT: Asian workers' struggles -- Midnight Notes 12

[Montyneill@xxxxxxx]

As we have received various requests for the text of our chronology of Asian
worker's struggles from Midnight Notes No. 12, here it is:

Midnight Notes' Chronology of Asian and Oceanian
Workers' Struggles. 1995-1997
(Text from Midnight Notes #12, 1997)

        The Asian/Oceanian Crisis of 1997 has been extensively analyzed by
the business media, the research teams of the IMF and U.S. government
officials. Their consensus is that it is a crisis was caused by the weak,
"immature" banking systems of the "Asian Tigers." Bankers simply made too
many bad loans to their cronies. Their solution is simple: let the IMF take
over the Asian banks and finance ministries to ensure transparency and
efficiency in the future.
        But whenever the global media establishment points to monetary
faults in this period, they are invariably referring beyond controllable
transgressions of bankers, speculators and stock jobbers to the original
sin of capitalism: class struggle. The ultimate source of all crisis is the
reduction of profits by working class action. And one need not go far to
see that this original sin was flourishing in Thailand, Indonesia, East
Timor and especially South Korea, where millions of workers struck against
"neoliberalism" in December 1996 and January 1997 before the grim gaze of a
nuclear-armed U.S. occupation army.
        The following Chronology should be a useful prophylactic for our
reader who might, unhappily, find him/herself in the company of the
insidious minions of the business media who continue to spout "good
fundamentals" and "corrupt trading practices" while the streets are filled
with tear gas, bullets and bludgeons.


South Korea. Jun. 8, 1995
President Kin Young Sam warned that a planned strike at the state-owned
telephone company would be akin to "an attempt to overthrow the state."

South Korea. Jun. 19, 1995
Workers at Hyndai Heavy Industries approved a provisional wage agreement
providing for a 5.6% wage increase and bonuses of three months pay.

East Timor. Oct. 12, 1995
Indonesian troops were ordered to "restore order" after major protest riots
and demonstrations in the capital of Dili.

Indonesia. Dec. 7, 1995
The Dutch and Russian embassies in Jakarta were occupied by 113 Timorese
and on-Timorese to protest the Indonesian government's occupation of East
Timor.

South Korea. March 13, 1996
Two leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Yang Kyu Hon and
Kwon Young Kil, were arrested. The Confederation brought a new militancy
into the Korean union movement.

 Irian Jaya (Indonesia).March 13 1996
"Rioting erupted again in the Irian Jayan town of Timika yesterday
disrupting Freeport mine operations. Sources in Irian Jaya said more than
1,000 Irianese went on the rampage in Timika and the new town of Kuala
Kencana damaging houses and hijacking vehicles. This followed a disturbance
by several hundred people at Tembagapura, Freeport's mine, in the mountains
70km north of Timika on Saturday.
        An army spokesman told AFP that 'The situation is getting out of
hand here'. 'The police have given up and the military is awaiting orders
to take action'.
        The rioters, some armed with bows and arrows and axes, came from
village communities around Timika and Tembagapura, including people from
the Dani, Moni and Amungme tribes. Production at the Freeport mine was
halted early on Monday following the troubles on Sunday. There were
unconfirmed reports late yesterday that the rioters had tried to take over
the airport at Timika.
        About 300 Indonesian troops were being flown to Timika yesterday to
help restore order. Two rioters were said to have been wounded by troops
who opened fire on the protestors with rubber bullets, with one person
believed to be in a critical condition.     Sources in Irian Jaya said that
the rioting may have been sparked by a road accident late last week in
which a Dani man was said to have been knocked down and injured by an
expatriate Freeport employee.
        Tribal leaders in the area of the Freeport mine are calling for a
meeting with Mr James Moffett,US-based head of Freeport's holding company,
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold. Freeport spokesmen have denied that they
colluded with the armed forces in a series of incidents that led to a
number of civilian deaths.
        Last week the National Human Rights Commission said that it would
send an investigative team to Irian Jaya following a request from the local
Amungme tribal council to re-examine allegations of human rights abuses in
the vicinity of the Freeport mine.
(The Australian, 3/13/96)

South Korea. Jun. 19, 1996
Large parts of the auto industry were shut down because workers at Kia
Motors Corp., the country's second largest auto corporation, struck in a
wage dispute.

Indonesia. July 27, 1996
Protesters rioted through downtown Jakarta after the security forces
stormed the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party, driving out
the supporters of the PDI leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of
Indonesia's founding President Sukarno. The riots left millions of dollars
of damage in Jakarta's commercial district.

Thailand. October 1996
Hundreds of displaced peasants set up camp in front of the Government House
demanding more compensation.

Indonesia. Dec. 15, 1996
The Indonesian Ministry of Manpower recently announced that the average
regional minimum wages would rise by 10% throughout the country. The labor
unions had demanded 15%.

Thailand. Dec. 16, 1996.
        The torching of two Sanyo Universal Electric PLC buildings after
negotiations over year-end bonuses broke down has stirred fears about
Thailand's record of harmonious labor relations. The increasingly open
conflictuality has been officially documented. "The Labor Ministry recorded
1,075 labor disputes in 1995, with 74 of them resulting in strikes or
lockouts while in 1991 there were 495 disputes and 63 work stoppages. The
confrontations are becoming sharper as well. For example, a strike against
Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki's Thai operations shut it down for
three months" (Far Eastern Economic Review, 1/9/97).

South Korea. Dec. 26-29, 1996
The largest series of strikes and walkouts in South Korean history,
involving hundreds of thousands of workers, took place to protest the new
labor legislation that allows companies to lay off and fire workers more
easily and to avoid paying overtime in a more flexible work system.

South Korea. January 9, 1997
South Korea's primary labor group called the biggest strike in the nation's
history to protest the controversial new labor law.

South Korea. January 15, 1997
A general strike was called by a coalition of labor unions. The unions
claim that 600,000 workers observed the strike call, the government claims
it was "only" 100,000.

South Korea. January 22, 1997
150,000 workers, according to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions,
walked off their jobs to protest the new labor legislation. The wave of
strikes over the previous three weeks have already "cost" South Korean
corporations about $3 billion in lost production.

East Timor. March 23, 1997
There was a serious military crackdown against a group of about 250 unarmed
East Timorese students who marched to the hotel where a representative of
the U.N. General Secretary was staying. They wished to express their
opposition to the continued integration of East Timor into Indonesia. They
entered the hotel lobby and presented their written statement to an
assistant to the U.N. representative. Soon thereafter, right in the hotel
lobby itself, the Indonesian military began its assault on the students.
The soldiers beat the students with sticks, shot at them and arrested those
they could grab. The students were either pushed through the plate glass
windows of the hotel or intentionally broke through them to escape. The
Indonesian military, ever ready with an excuse for the inexcusable, claimed
that the students were carrying machetes and knives. The U.N. envoy,
Jamsheed Marker, has not issued a clear statement about what he saw if
anything and his quips to the press indicate that he is buying the
military's absurd version. His comments so far do not evidence any serious
concern about the atrocity and its aftermath.
        According to what we would consider to be the most reliable report,
"21 were hit by bullets and 30 were injured by bayonets and broken glass.
Among the injured some were captured and are being detained by the police,
others managed to seek protection in Motael, in the convents and in their
own homes. Some have disappeared and their whereabouts are not known." The
report lists the names of 90 people who have disappeared, either they are
in hiding or they are in the secret custody of the military. Of the 21 hit
by bullets, an unknown number have died, anywhere from one to seven
depending on the report.
        Two days after the Dili incident, 32 Timorese students in Java and
Bali entered the Austrian Embassy in Jakarta. Frustrated with Marker's lack
of determination to meet East Timorese people during his 48 hours in East
Timor, they demanded a meeting with him at the embassy (EAST TIMOR ACTION
NETWORK / Madison).

Indonesia. April 28, 1997
A wage dispute at a factory near Jakarta that makes Nike shoes was resolved
with employees winning a 10.7% wage increase. It was the second protest in
a week against a Nike subcontractor.

Indonesia. April 28, 1997
        "After rushing through the trials of the PRD (People's Democratic
Party) defendants to their predetermined end, the judges in Jakarta read
out the sentences yesterday, April 28. The PRD activists came to the
courtroom for the opening of the session at around 10am. Wearing black
headbands with the slogan "Democracy is dead" and T-shirts stating "Boycott
the Elections" and singing songs such as "We Shall Overcome," they entered
the courtroom under guard, told the judges they did not recognize the
authority of the court and were then permitted to exit to a nearby holding
cell. To the cheers of 200 supporters, the PRD continued its defiant
boycott of the court up to the last. The judges, perhaps out of pique,
decided to evict the entire audience and read out their 3 hour statement to
a near empty courtroom.
        In a meager attempt to appear lenient, the judges knocked one to
two years off the already stiff sentences the prosecution demanded. Budiman
got 13 years instead of 15, Garda got 12 instead of 13, Pranowo got 9
instead of 10, and so on. (See the listing below.) The only significant
reduction was for Petrus who received 6 years instead of 12. Two other PRD
activists, I Gusti Agung Anom Astika and Wilson Nurtiyas, will be sentenced
next week.
        What was the PRD ultimately convicted of? The judges' final
decision, which reads more like a political statement than a legal
document, makes it perfectly clear that the PRD's only crime was to
criticize the government. The judges made no mention of the charges for
which the PRD was originally arrested: masterminding the July 27 riot and
propagating a communist ideology. The Suharto regime, unable to find
anything to substantiate those charges that top officials hyped in the
media last September, dropped them before the trial began.
        In their statement, the judges so obviously incriminate themselves
in a politically determined case that it would be unnecessary for us to
make any comments. Just read an excerpt for yourself: "The defendants are
proven guilty for holding meetings to establish the PRD, holding worker
demonstrations, and making statements that contradict the facts of the New
Order government. The defendants also do not accept Pancasila [the "state
ideology"] as the only principle. Their acts do not only discredit the New
Order government, they disturb state security and economic stability."
        The judges defended the high sentences by blaming the defendants
for their lack of remorse and recalcitrance during the trial: "Budiman does
not deserve to be respected and honored because he has trampled upon the
dignity of the court ... The defendant was arrogant to read a speech which
has nothing to do with the case and discredited the New Order government,
especially President Suharto." When the judges' own statement is a defense
of the New Order, it is ridiculous to contend that Budiman's speech, which
was the PRD's collective statement, was irrelevant to the case.
The sentences: 1) Budiman Sudjatmiko, 13 years; 2) B. Garda Sembiring, 12
years; 3) Ign. D. Pranowo, 9 years; 4) J. Eko Kurniawan, 8 years; 5)
Suroso, 7 years; 6) Petrus H. Haryanto, 6 years; 7) Ken Budha Kusumandaru,
4 years; 8) Victor da Costa, 1 1/2 years; 9) Ign. Putut Arintoko, 1 1/2
years; 10) Dita Indah Sari, 6 years; 11) Coen Husein Pontoh, 4 years; 12)
M. Sholeh, 4 years; 13) I Gusti Agung Anom Astika, not yet announced; 14)
Wilson Nurtiyas, not yet announced."


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