In a case that has highlighted Indonesia’s poor enforcement of labour laws, 34 young workers were recently discovered being forced to work as slaves at a waste-recycling factory in Sepatan Timur in Tangerang, west of Jakarta. The case also highlighted the apparent involvement of police and military personnel in helping the owner of the factory hide his workforce. As a response to Indonesia’s often slow and not transparent judicial process, a demonstration composed of local workers voiced their protests at the factory and at the house of one of the alleged managers. This case also brought up memories of the killing of a worker activist, Marsinah, twenty years ago where the murderers were suspected to have military backing.
In a case that has highlighted Indonesia’s poor enforcement of labour laws, 34 young workers were recently discovered being forced to work as slaves at a waste-recycling factory in Sepatan Timur in Tangerang, west of Jakarta. The case also highlighted the apparent involvement of police and military personnel in helping the owner of the factory hide his workforce. As a response to Indonesia’s often slow and not transparent judicial process, a demonstration composed of local workers voiced their protests at the factory and at the house of one of the alleged managers. This case also brought up memories of the killing of a worker activist, Marsinah, twenty years ago where the murderers were suspected to have military backing.
