The following is a translation of a speech given by Sunarno, the president of the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI), at a meeting of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) Presidential Council in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 4-5, 2025.
Greetings to all comrades. I am Sunarno, a member of the WFTU Presidential Council from the KASBI. On behalf of KASBI Indonesia, we want to express our gratitude to the President and all VGCL (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) leaders who have hosted the 2025 WFTU Presidential Council and for our warm welcome in this historic and heroic land, Vietnam. We hope that in the future, Vietnam will host the WFTU Congress.
We also want to express our gratitude to the Secretary General of the WFTU and all friends at the Secretariat for its leadership of the progressive labour movement. And we wish to convey warm greeting and strong solidarity to all delegates of the 2025 WFTU Presidential Council from all over the world.
Dear comrades,
The deepening economic crisis and its impacts are being felt in various parts of the world. The ordinary people, especially workers, have become the victims of this economic crisis. Mass layoffs (PHK), the increasing vulnerability of working people and a decline in the quality of life for workers is occurring throughout the world, including in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, the new administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka as a result of the 2024 president election has not brought clear or bright hopes to workers and the majority of the Indonesian people in facing this crisis and its impacts.
The majority of the people of Indonesia are experiencing difficulties. The increasing price of basic necessities and deepening economic inequality are the main issues in Indonesia. After only 100 days in government, the Prabowo-Gibran regime is already facing massive demonstrations called #IndonesiaGelap (Dark Indonesia) against massive budget cuts and the role of the military in Indonesian politics.
The situation is becoming worse for Indonesian workers. In recent years, massive layoffs have occurred mainly in the garment and textile sectors. Since 2022, more than 70 textile and garment factories have closed operations and sacked more than one hundred thousand workers. According to our documentation, more than 5,000 KASBI members have faced mass layoffs as a result of the economic crisis.
Currently, Indonesian workers face new challenges after the Constitutional Court in October 2024 annulled several provisions in the anti-worker Omnibus Law on Job Creation (UU Cipta Kerja) and urged the government to draft a new law on labour withing two years.
This situation will place the labour movement in the fight for their interests in the new labour law. The KASBI Confederation together with more than 70 trade unions have been working to draft a new labour law that sides with workers, and will carry out massive mobilisations to pressure the government and parliament to adopt the workers' version of the labour law.
The other issue that deserves our attention is the phenomenon of digital platform workers. In many countries, such as Indonesia, digital platform workers are not recognised as formal employees. This situation places them in very poor working conditions without legal protection of their basic rights as workers.
In this situation, there is no other way for us, the workers and the majority of ordinary people, other than to organise and fight more persistently and militantly. We call on all trade unions under the banner of the WFTU to increase international solidarity and fight together against capitalism and imperialism.
We will never let the Palestinian people fight alone for their freedom, we will never let the people in Cuba, Venezuela and other countries struggle alone against the imperialist economic blockade, and we will always fight together as the working class for a better world. We believe that the WFTU has and always will play an important role in this crisis and became the leader of the people's movement.
I thank you and express my respect to all comrades here!
Long live the working class! Long live the WFTU!
Greetings courageous militant youth!
Hanoi, Vietnam, Maret 4, 2025
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Pidato Sambutan Ketua Umum KASBI di Pertemuan Tahunan Dewan Presiden WFTU".]
