Indonesia - Harassment and intimidation of union leaders

Further to the 30 October arrests during the minimum wage protests, several trade union leaders found themselves the target of harassment and intimidation. Muhamad Rusdi, General Secretary of the Indonesian trade union confederation Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia (KSPI), was summonsed for questioning. Shortly after the demonstrations, the branch office of KPBI (Komite Politik Buruh Indonesia) in North Jakarta was occupied by police, the central KSPI Office and all branch offices of the metalworkers’ federation Federasi Serikat Pekerja Metal Indonesia (FSPMI) were guarded by police and other authorities, and a trade unionist in East Java was beaten by police. Several union leaders also reported that their private cars had been damaged.