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"In Workers, Unions and Politics : Indonesia in the 1920s and 1930s, John Ingleson revises received understandings of the decade and a half between the failed communist uprisings of 1926/1927 and the Japanese occupation in 1942. They were important years for the labour movement. It had to recover from the crackdown by the colonial state and then cope with the impact of the 1930s depression. Labour unions were voices for greater social justice, for stronger legal protection and for improved opportunities for workers. They created a discourse of social rights and wage justice. They were major contributors to the growth of a stronger civil society. The experiences and remembered histories of these years helped shape the agendas of post-independence labour unions"--

The 1930s Depression caused an enormous growth in urban poverty in colonial Java. Informal neighbourhood networks could no longer cope with the unemployed, the homeless and the destitute. Politically conscious Indonesians were convinced that the colonial state was concerned only with poverty among Europeans. They responded by creating new charities focused on the Indonesian lower classes. Many provided middle-class women with opportunities for leadership denied them in the political and labour movements. However, those who managed the charities had no concept of empowering the poor. In dispensing support they made a clear distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor. Nevertheless their charitable work enabled thousands of Indonesians to survive the Depression years.

AbstractThis paper discusses the responses of The Netherlands Indies colonial government to the rise in urban unemployment in Java brought about by the 1930s Depression. At least one in six of the large European/Eurasian population in the colony, and an even larger proportion of urban Indonesian workers, became unemployed as a result of the Depression. The colonial government and the European community were greatly concerned that the growth of unemployment among Europeans would lead to destitution for many, ultimately forcing them into the native kampung1. They were also concerned about what they saw as the moral decay of local-born European/Eurasian youth who were unemployed in unprecedented numbers. Furthermore, the European community feared that the growth in unemployment among western-educated Indonesians in the towns and cities in Java would create a fertile recruitment ground for nationalist political parties leading to urban unrest. Fear of the kampung for destitute Europeans, and fear of urban unrest from unemployed western-educated Indonesians, shaped the colonial government's responses to urban unemployment. The impact of the Depression on both Indonesian and European unemployed in the towns and cities in Java triggered lengthy debates on the role of the state in the provision of social security.

AbstractThe labour movement in colonial Indonesia is an important part of Indonesian history. The accepted convention is that after 1926, there was little or no labour activity in the colony, or at least little of any consequence. This article argues that much was going on but that it was of a different character from earlier years because of the limitations imposed by the colonial government. The Indonesian Study Club, based in Surabaya and led by Dr Sutomo, had a central role. The creation of labour unions was part of a broader effort to create enduring linkages between the western educated Surabaya elite and Surabaya workers.

This article discusses the legacy of the colonial labour movement in Indonesia under five broad headings; labour unions and the development of political consciousness; labour unions as socio‐economic institutions; leaders, followers and the development of worker leadership; organisations and structural legacies; and class, ethnic and religious divisions. For over three decades after the first labour union was created in 1908, union leaders struggled to build organisations that cut across the ethnic, linguistic and social class divisions of Indonesian workplaces. They had limited success. Nevertheless, labour unions did have an important role in increasing workers' wages, representing their grievances to employers and forcing the colonial government to pressure employers to improve both wages and conditions. They were central to the development of political consciousness, creating opportunities for Indonesians to acquire organisational skills and providing a channel for many to join nationalist political parties. In 1941, on the eve of the Japanese occupation, labour unions were among the strongest Indonesian organisations in the colonial towns and cities. In the aftermath of independence in August 1945 labour unions were quickly re‐formed and, freed from many of the restrictions of the colonial states, recruited large numbers of urban workers. The successes and failures of the colonial labour movement were part of the collective memory of many leaders and members, influencing the direction of post‐independence activities.

This article discusses the legacy of the colonial labor movement in Indonesia under five broad headings; labor unions & the development of political consciousness; labor unions as socioeconomic institutions; leaders, followers, & the development of worker leadership; organizations & structural legacies; & class, ethnic, & religious divisions. For over three decades after the first labor union was created in 1908, union leaders struggled to build organizations that cut across the ethnic, linguistic, & social class divisions of Indonesian workplaces. They had limited success. Nevertheless, labor unions did have an important role in increasing workers' wages, representing their grievances to employers, & forcing the colonial government to pressure employers to improve both wages & conditions. They were central to the development of political consciousness, creating opportunities for Indonesians to acquire organizational skills & providing a channel for many to join nationalist political parties. In 1941, on the eve of the Japanese occupation, labor unions were among the strongest Indonesian organizations in the colonial towns & cities. In the aftermath of independence in Aug 1945, labor unions were quickly reformed &, freed from many of the restrictions of the colonial states, recruited large numbers of urban workers. The successes & failures of the colonial labor movement were part of the collective memory of many leaders & members, influencing the direction of postindependence activities. Adapted from the source document.