After selling packaged rice In front of a garment factory in the Nusantara Bonded Zone (KBN) Cakung, North Jakarta, Tien Kusna immediately package up her belonging. September 24th, Saturday afternoon was time for her to rush to have a weekly night out with her female labor friends.
After packing up the belonging and taking it home, Tien Kusna immediately received text from her fellow workers at KBN Cakung. They invited Tien for a weekly nigh out.
On Saturday night, they would be sitting on the side of the road next to a starling coffee or other coffee vendor in Cakung. Tien Kusna would order a cup of coffee and her friends did the same.
Sometimes they will have potluck, Tien Kusna brings friend banana and others will bring fried tofu or tempeh, crackers, or others snack from their home. They will eat it with the coffee. tight money makes workers can’t afford a weekly night out. Such as at the mall, go to movie theater or have coffee at a café. They can only sit at the Starling coffee every Sunday night.
Although it is located on the side of the road, it is safe. This place is close to a small river. They can sit on plastic mats provided by starling coffee sellers.
“because of money is limiter, every Sunday night we drink starling coffee while brining fried snack from home,” Tien Kusna told Konde.co.
Meanwhile, some of the other female workers who have children cannot have a weekly night out with them. Those with children would go home, and on Sunday night return to Jakarta because on Monday they had to work.
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Tien Kusna is a former garment factory worker at KBN Cakung. But when the company went bankrupt, she turned to selling packaged rice. Her customers are her friends. Every morning she cooks rice, shredded chicken and vegetables to sell. As her income, the packet is sold for 15.000 rupiahs (1USD).
“On Sunday nights like this, we usually talk about work, friendship, daily lives. We only can talk during Sunday night, because most of us work in the factory until late afternoon or evening on weekdays”
Usually, the women workers will follow this routine on Saturday night. It’s because on Sunday they need to do domestic works, such as wash the clothes, iron it, and clean the house.
Jumisih, Chairperson of the Indonesian Federation of Trade Unions (FSBPI) in Jakarta, said that starling coffee is like a café for the workers. It’s because its cheap and the worker can also enjoy coffee that is not much different from expensive cafes.
‘So, it’s like imagining life like other young people who can access expensive coffee,’ Jumisih said.
In the North Jakarta, there are four starling coffee areas nearby residences of workers and near industrial area. There are in the Arteri area near Kelapa Gading, in the park near the square, Orchard and Plumpang marker areas. The location is not far from Rawa Badak lake.
The location near Plumpang Market is always crowded on Sunday evenings because its filled motorcycles of the workers. Their activities will go park the motorcycles, drink coffee, and eat fried foods.
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Ari Widiastari is the owner of starling coffee in Arteri, North Jakarta. She was also former factory worker at KBN Cakung. She started her business since pandemic due the factory bankruptcy. So, on Saturday night become a space for FSBPI women workers to enjoy coffee and talk with Ari.
‘This also helps to increase their income. They can get additional income on Sunday night like this for the worker who have been fired or the factory has shut down’ Jumisih told Konde.co
The meetings are also often the basis for organizing workers. First, they will be getting to know each other at the starling hangout, then talk about personal matters as they usually open the conversation by asking: where is their home, where do they come from, then telling stories about the problems they experience at the factory.
‘This can be a place to organize workers because we meet many young workers here, then help them with advocacy or just give advice when they have labor problems. It can also be a place for acquaintances, sometimes if they get married, we are invited. But it can also be a alternative organization meeting place as we get tired of meeting at the secretariat,’ Jumisih said.
The crowd as it located on the side of the road with a lot of traffic and worker still enjoying the Sunday night with crowded conditions. Sicily Risa Pahlevi (25) is also a person who cannot wait Sunday night to come. Every two weeks to month, Risa will be enjoying her Sunday night with friends. it’s a small café, not a luxurious café with expensive food and drinks.
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Risa (nickname) gets ready after showering. She is wearing outfit that’s she bought on the marketplace, not branded ones, but quite contemporary for tens of thousands of rupiah.
Risa usually orders her favorite hazelnut coffee and toast while waiting her friends to arrive. Risa holds the moment with friends, Sunday night atmosphere, and swaying bodies with the Koplo music played in the café’s live music.
‘I love live music in café, its young people’s entertainment. The genre is usually Javanese and koplo songs,’ Risa from Boyolali told Konde.co on Monday (16/9).
The gathering with fellow female factory means of relieve stress and exchanging ideas. They share about working conditions, women’s labor rights and criticize discriminatory policies in factories. They call the moment as sambat moment – a moment to complain with friends.This moment will last for hours, from late afternoon to 8 or 9pm before they return to their respective homes.
Risa and her friends are not only hanging out at café but also usually go out together on Sunday nights. They usually visit the museum at Sarinah where usually has free exhibitions or Kota Tua to enjoy free live street music. As residents of North Jakarta, they usually use public transportation, such as the Electric Rail Train (KRL), Transjakarta, and MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) to visit these places.
For Risa and her friends, public transportation is cheap and affordable options, although it’s not always safe. It’s vulnerable with sexual harassment in the form of catcalling, which Risa often receives when walking on the sidewalk.
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The town square or night market are choices for some of women workers to spend their Sunday night to talk freely and can mingle with the crowd. The important thing is the atmosphere different with everyday atmosphere. They will chat until late at night and enjoy cheap food that’s fits to their pockets.
Disya Halid, and activist from Perempuan Mahardhika who usually accompanies workers in Samarinda, Kalimantan, said that women workers like to sit and spend their Sunday evenings at the Samarinda terrace. It’s a kind of square or green open space located on the Mahakam River in Samarinda. In the green open space, the women workers usually drink package coffee, which costs 5000 rupiahs to 10000 rupiahs (0.30 – 0.60 USD), eat tahu tek tek (tofu with peanut sauce), fried rice, or soto.
“They are just sitting and eating cheap foods and drinks”
“Women laborers who work daily in timber companies, salt processing, and most of them work in tofu-making factories. ‘They have simple lives, far from other upper middle-class people who like to go to malls or luxurious cafes’, Disya added.
Based on research conducted by the Sedane Labor Information Institute (LIPS) in 2023, worker’s income has always been tight or minus. So, they are going to watch new films or eating at mall is a luxury activity.
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So far, their monthly salary is actually only enough to survive for 2 – 3 weeks, because it is used to support the family in the village, pay for school children or sent to parents or help relatives. The tight finance make they need to control their expenses in Sunday night. Most night, they only spend 20000 rupiahs (1.2 USD) to buy nasi kucing (cat’s rice), fried foods and starling coffee.
In Cikarang, West Java, workers are not only going to starling coffee but also gather in roadside where there are cat’s rice or sweet iced tea with affordable prices.
LIPS Director Syarif Arifin, contacted by Konde.co, said that there are 7 types of activities carried out by workers on Sunday nights, namely (1) playing in boarding houses – this is generally done by workers when they have absolutely no money, so they decide to stay in boarding houses and sleep. (2) They go to their friend’s house and play guitar, (3) hang out at angkringan or starling, (4) motorbiking, (5) meet family, lovers or relatives, (6) join the recitation to given advice to be grateful for life, and (7) join activities by labour unions on Saturday because there is always shared knowledge in labor unions on weekend or holiday.
‘So, they can’t go on vacation to Singapore or watch new movies at the mall. Those who participate in this recitation are like getting spiritual inspiration to be grateful for life,’ said Syarif Arifin with a chuckle.
Syarif Arifin sees that drinking coffee and fried food is actually unhealthy, but the money is tight. They don’t have others choices.
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‘So, startling coffee is a café for workers, they eat intestines, fried foods. Well, if you look at it from health aspects, it’s not healthy, because it contains glucose and saturated fat and an inadequate portion of nutrition, but what to do, because it’s the only entertainment. Recovering energy by dating, meeting partners and family, and relatives is also done. Some gather with the people from same Kampongs, some attend recitations, restore energy and are told to be grateful.’
They can only dream about saving because they need to send some of their salary to families or pay their temporary house. Instead of saying, they go into debt.
‘They go into debt not to fulfill tertiary needs, but for their daily needs. They sit in the square accompanied by mosquitoes to heal their mental health before comeback to work again on Monday,’ Syarif Arifin told Konde.co, September 25, 2024.
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In 2023, the findings of the LIPS survey showed that the average expenditure of labor households for food and non-food consumption expenditure amounted to 9,299,666.65 rupiahs per month (597 USD). Expenditure on food amounted to 2,332,641.44 rupiahs (150 USD) or 25.08 percent. Meanwhile, 6,697,025.21 rupiahs (430 USD) or 74.92 percent is non-food expenditure, which is often used for house rent, sending money to home, for children’s education, etc. As a result of this inadequate salary, workers have to participate in online gambling or debt and must be chased by retainers or debt collectors.
Debt is a new trap for women workers. On average, there are single parents, pregnant women and about to give birth, whose husband do not work and who are suddenly laid off. Research conducted by Marsinah FM and the Labor Learning Group (Kobar), published on December 7, 2020, found the fact that women breadwinners are forced to bind themselves to debt because of the economic problems that ensnare them, small salaries, and not enough to support.
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Apart from debt, there are some others economic problems that befall women workers. Risa, for example, has been working at the KBN Cakung factory since she graduated from vocational school in 2017. She was about 18 years old when she first started working at the garment factory. However, she did not last long (only 3 months) because her salary was below the Regional Minimum Wage (UMR). Even when she worked overtime, she didn’t get any extra money.
The exploitative work system made Risa move to another company. Eventually, she was accepted at a cosmetic factory on a six-month contract. In this place, Risa stayed for about three years.
She told her situation working in the factory when she was 21 years old. Her status as contract worker was often ‘distinguished’ from workers who has permanent status.
In the era of Job Creation, Risa feels the impact as a female laborer in the factory. She is particularly concerned about the minimum number of years of contract work, which is 5 years required to be appointed as permanent worker. in reality, many of her friend has not been appointed as permanent worker although already worked more than 5 years.
Companies usually don’t want to lose money. They tend to pay workers as little as possible. So, they push worker to join apprenticeship before accepted as a (contract) worker.
‘Contract workers must have a one-year apprenticeship,’ she added.
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Until finally, in September 2023, Risa had to experience the bitterness of being fired from her job. Risa, who was sick and hospitalized at the time, often asked permission not to come to work. At that time, she had submitted a sick leave letter but the company didn’t want to know. When her contract expired, Risa was not renewed.
‘They said I used many days to leave permission, but I was sick. Didn’t accept the excuse even though I submitted letter. They didn’t want to know, so it’s over,’ said Risa, imitating the words of the factory management at that time.
For a year now, Risa has been unemployed. She hasn’t been idle and hasn’t tried to find a job. Even now, she still goes around to walk interviews at factories in Cakung. However, she has yet to receive a job call.
The age limit set by the factory is also one of the obstacles to Risa. Although it’s not all written down on paper, factories are usually looking for workers under the age of 24.
‘Even at this age, you can still be productive. The age discrimination does make it difficult to find work. Even at 23, it’s sometimes difficult. I’ve been looking all over the factories in Cakung’, said Risa, who turns 25 in 2024.
On the one hand, there is an age limit, but on the other hand, factories often require work experience. This usually has to be in accordance with the field. For example, garment factories demand that their workers also have experience working in garments.
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‘Usually we sew, but if we don’t have experience, we won’t be accepted,’ she added.
Apart from having to deal with age limit discrimination, linear work experience. Another obstacle experienced by Risa is the narrowness of job opportunities compared to existing applicants. ‘There are so many applicants, graduate (of Senior high school or vocational school) in 2024, are also already struggling to find work,’ she said.
Risa is not only applying for a job at the factory but also to several other places. She once worked in F&B in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
Instead of being better, her job in the kitchen was more exploitative. She had to work 6 days per week with more than 8 hours a day. She still needed to work after Eid holiday. But her salary was far belom Jakarta’s minimum wage, just million rupiahs and food allowance.
‘That’s really sad. The owner opened a lot of branches but didn’t want to add people. So, our job desk increased. I didn’t get holiday during Eid, So I decided to resign,’ said Risa, who ended up staying with the F&B company for six months.
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This is the condition of the laborers. They should have survived in any situations.
Syarif Arifin said that the challenge of the workers is not only issues of small salary but also the need of social needs or social reproduction, namely being able to have a weekly night because they have to find or build new energy to work on Monday. But it’s difficult as they cannot afford primary needs at the first level,’
So, do not expecting to have Sunday night while the situation still same.
