Marsinah (10 April 1969 – 8 May 1993) was an independent

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist employed in a watch factory in

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

, Indonesia, whose murder drew international attention to the Suharto dictatorship's brutal repression of workers. Marsinah was serving as a negotiator for 500 workers

striking Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

over failure to implement the minimum wage and trade union autonomy. On May 4, she was kidnapped following a demonstration; her body was found four days later. The military is widely believed to have been involved in her disappearance and subsequent death.

Early life

The second child of Sumini and Mastin, Marsinah grew up under the care of her grandmother, Puirah, and her aunt Sini, in Nglundo,

. She went to school at Karangasem Public School 189, subsequently Nganjuk No.5 Middle School. Her girlhood years were marked with commerce, selling snacks in order to augment her grandmother and aunt's incomes. Marsinah's final school years were spent at the Muhammadiyah Boarding School, her educational advancement being denied due to lack of money.

Factory worker

Unable to find employment in Nglundo, Marsinah turned her attention to the big cities, sending in job applications to

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

, Mojokerto and

Gresik Gresik Regency ( older spelling: Grissee, ) is a regency within East Java Province of Indonesia. As well as a large part of the Surabaya northern and western suburbs, it includes the offshore Bawean Island, some 125 km to the north of Java an ...

. Hired by

Bata Shoes The Bata Corporation (known as Bata, and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known as Baťa) is a multinational footwear, apparel and fashion accessories manufacturer and retailer of Moravian (Czech) origin, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzer ...

to work at their Surabaya factory in 1989, she moved a year later to the Catur Putra Surya (formerly Empat Putra Surya) watch factory in Sidoarjo. Making a lateral transfer to their Porong factory after its opening, Marsinah eventually found herself serving as spokesperson for her fellow workers.

Trade unionist

When, in 1993, the Governor of East Java announced a raise in the provincial minimum wage, Catur Putra Surya (a company with ties to the Indonesian

military–industrial complex The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the r ...

) refused to comply. On 3-4 May workers went on strike demanding implementation of the minimum wage and the local unit of the state-controlled union, SPSI, be disbanded. Marsinah went to the Indonesian Ministry of Labor to retrieve a copy of the gubernatorial directive to deliver to the CPS management.

Murder

On 5 May the Sidoarjo District Military Command summoned 13 workers to its headquarters and forced them to sign letters of resignation, with 8 more to follow in the next couple of days. Outraged by this turn of events, Marsinah decided to go there herself and demand an explanation that very same day. She was never seen alive again.

Campaigns for justice

In 2002 Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri approved an investigation by the Human Rights Commission.

Legacy

She was posthumously awarded the

Yap Thiam Hien Award Penghargaan Yap Thiam Hien (Yap Thiam Hien Award) is an award given by Yayasan Pusat Studi Hak Asasi Manusia to people with contributions in human rights issues in Indonesia. The name is based on an Indonesian Chinese lawyer and a human right acti ...

, and her murder was officially noted by the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

as Case# 1773.

References

{{Authority control Indonesian trade unionists 1969 births 1993 deaths