Gender-Responsive Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Workshop Yogyakarta - Gajimu.com/Garment

Yogyakarta, November 3-5, 2023

In early November 2023, the Makin Terang team visited Yogyakarta to conduct the Gender-Responsive Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Workshop. A total of 25 SP/SP leaders from factory levels, representing thirteen Textile, Garment, Footwear, and Footwear (TGSL) factories in Yogyakarta and surrounding areas, gathered with one goal in mind: to enhance their capacity in drafting and negotiating CBAs that go beyond normative rules and have a gender perspective.

DAY ONE, November 3, 2023

The day began with introductions, where participants expressed their expectations for the three-day workshop—one of which was to equip themselves to draft CBAs that go beyond normative laws. Following this, facilitators proposed creating a learning agreement, which was implemented and respected throughout the workshop.

Later, Andina from Gajimu introduced the Makin Terang program, emphasizing one of its activities, the Gender-Responsive Collective Bargaining Agreement Workshop. Approaching midday, Biko from TURC facilitated the True Workers Union (Serikat Buruh Sejati) session, including discussions on the characteristics of a True Workers Union, such as independence. An interesting debate arose on the independence of trade unions, particularly when it comes to practical politics, such as Presidential Elections.

Continuing the True Workers Union session, Zulfikar from TURC presented the Collective Negotiation material. Participants realized that trade unions have the luxury of creating agreements equal to the law through the Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, this requires adequate organizational capacity. A participant sparked a discussion on dealing with management that was once part of the trade union leadership, understanding how to navigate the union effectively. Ichsan from TURC emphasized the importance of having strategies both inside and outside negotiations, leveraging all organizational resources.

Addressing the need for strong information and data in negotiations, Fakhri from Gajimu introduced the gajimu.com website, gajimu.com/garment, and accessible surveys, including the Collective Bargaining Agreement database. Questions about multi-company CBAs emerged, typically found when companies are part of the same group, industry region, or produce the same brand. An example of a multi-company CBA can be found on the Gajimu.com database, specifically the Combined Collective Bargaining Agreement Between the Agricultural and Plantation SPSI Workers Union and the Joint Plantation Entrepreneurs Association Jabar Banten.

DAY TWO, November 4, 2023

On the second day, facilitators invited participants to review the discussion session from the first day in three groups. Subsequently, Venda from TURC facilitated the Gender-Responsive CBA material. In addressing gender injustice in the workplace, formulating gender-responsive articles becomes crucial. Yanti, also an interviewer for Gajimu, mentioned that the CBA negotiation process should involve women as subjects with their own experiences and knowledge. In this discussion, several points were raised:

To eliminate the term menstruation as a disease because it is a specific condition for women.
Menstrual leave should only be a notification, not requiring permission.
To encourage companies to establish support divisions to replace employees on menstrual leave.
Trade unions to prepare a database of menstrual schedules for female members.
Menstrual leave should not be monetized because the primary focus is reproductive health, which could lead to gender discrimination.
Trade unions and companies to organise reproductive health education.
Menstrual examination by examining the inside of a woman's body is harassment and sexual violence.

To formulate a gender-responsive CBA, Zulfikar from TURC introduced a workshop tool consisting of mapping tables and DIM (List of Inventory of Problems). The mapping table is a tool to detect problems in the company, along with the challenges and supporting data. The List of Inventory of Problems (DIM) is a list to record CBA articles that need to be improved in quantity and quality and to introduce gender-responsive articles. DIM can also record arguments and supporting data needed in future negotiations. In this process, groups divided by factory will be assisted by facilitators from Gajimu, TURC, and two programme interviewers, Yanti and Munir. After the workshop ends, each group will present the results of their discussion.

DAY THREE, November 5, 2023

On the third day, participants continued presenting the results of mapping and DIM from each group. Topics discussed included workplace sexual violence and harassment, menstrual leave, maternity leave, lactation rooms, transportation allowances, overtime regulations, equal pay for equal work, miscarriage leave, paternity leave, prohibition of layoffs due to pregnancy and miscarriage, breastfeeding time, exemption of pregnant workers from hazardous work, and family allowances.

One interesting discussion was about overtime exceeding labour regulations and going unpaid. Ichsan from TURC shared experiences advocating and documenting overtime through payslips, payroll data, and CCTV at PT Sai Apparel, Grobogan, Central Java. This documentation process must prove the existence of overtime and wage theft, which is common in the garment and textile industry. The hope is that SP/SB can make similar advocacy efforts in factories practising this.

At the end of the event, as a follow-up, TURC and Gajimu will monitor and open discussions on the articles that participants will formulate for improving the CBAs in their companies. The event concluded with participants answering questionnaires to assess their understanding of the discussed topics and a group photo.

Gender-Responsive Collective Bargaining Agreement Workshop Yogyakarta 2023

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