Ismira Lutfia – Though journalists have long reported on labor struggles across the country, efforts to improve conditions in their own industry have only recently started gathering steam, a new coalition of media unions said on Sunday.
Jay Waluyo from the Smart FM employees' union, said many media workers have formed unions to fight for better wages and working conditions.
Jay, who was elected as secretary of the Federation of Independent Media Workers' Unions during its launch, said the coalition hoped to unite unions from various media organizations under one umbrella. He said eight unions from Jakarta and Solo had pledged their commitment to the group.
The eight unions include those from Smart FM radio, SWA Magazine, Radio 68H, Solo Pos, Suara Pembaruan, Tempo newspapers, and Indosiar and RCTI television stations, Jay said.
Two media organizations from Lampung and Medan, North Sumatra, had planned to attend but were not able to make it to the meeting. Representatives from two television stations, Anteve and TPI, were present as observers and expressed interest in joining the federation, Jay said.
"We want to promote more freedom in forming a workers' union in media organizations," Jay said, adding that out of about 2,500 print, online and electronic media organizations in Indonesia, less than 30 had organized unions.
He said the federation also aimed to promote improvements in working conditions and to eliminate short-term contract-based employment, in which employees often work for years under repeatedly renewed contracts that prevent promotion or more stable employment. "This is a common practice in most media organizations," Jay said.
Busyra Q. Yoga from the SWA Magazine workers' union said by joining the federation, media unions could consolidate their fight for workers' rights under an over-arching forum.
He said the most common goals to fight for include better treatment of workers who were sometimes discriminated against because they belonged to a union.
"It's a general perception that the establishment of a workers union is seen an affront to the management, and this does not happen only in media organizations," Yoga said.
The SWA workers union boasts 106 members, and was established in 2001 amid a dispute in which employees claimed they were not awarded a 20 percent salary increase that the company's management had previously promised.
"We calculated that the raises were only about 10 percent and we demanded an explanation from the management about it," Yoga said, adding that SWA management finally admitted that it had miscalculated the raise and adjusted the wage increases to comply with the promised percentage.
"Since then, we decided to establish a union and we have been able to handle disputes between employees and management more effectively through this," Yoga said, adding that the two parties reached a settlement that satisfied both sides.