The Rise and Decline of Labour Militancy in Batam

Abstract

In providing an overview summary of trade union activity in Batam, this essay analyses the region’s political history over the last several years. This approach is employed because there appears to have been a strong surge in national trade union reorganization activity since the end of the New Order in 1998. Explaining the evolution of that history, and how it has manifested in Batam, has determined the framework for this essay. The essay is divided as follows: The first section provides a basic outline of historical and social context, both of the trade union sector as well as of some other aspects of Batam; the following section describes the history of the emergence of industrial militancy nationally and in Batam; the third elaborates on the process that has led to a decline of that hostility, and; the conclusion sketches out the implications of this history of the rise and decline of such combat.