Workers Strike And Seize Giant Dutch Companies

Labor in the Dutch East Indies (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The workers are an important element in the history of the nation. Their courage to take part in the failure of the West Irian dispute at the Round Table Conference (KMB) is one of the most memorable. They moved to nationalize Dutch companies.

Nationalization was carried out through a number of movements, including strikes. They call it "nationalism." Workers do not want to work in companies owned by the colonialists. The role of workers made the dominance of a large Dutch company nicknamed "The Big Five" destroyed.

Soekarno's attitude towards West Irian never changed. Bung Besar revealed that Indonesia was indeed blessed with an area that stretched from Sumatra to Papua. The narrative was forever popularized by Soekarno as: from Sabang to Merauke.

For Bung Karno, West Irian had to be taken from the hands of the Dutch. Either way, Indonesia must win. The West Irian issue is a crucial personal matter. Negotiations have become Indonesia's main strategy, even though Indonesia-Netherlands negotiations have failed to reach an agreement.

The Netherlands is adamant that it will not hand over West Irian to Indonesia. Even at the Hague KMB in 1949, the attitude of the Dutch did not change. The Indonesian delegation was furious at the behavior of the Dutch. Hatta could not stand it so he directly criticized the Dutch action. He emphasized that Indonesia would seize West Irian at any cost, including the way of the sword (war).

"I agree with your opinion. I also want West Irian to be handed over to us immediately. In fact, the Dutch still refuse. If we stick to our stance, we must bear the consequences together."

"The result is that the RTC will fail. If the RTC fails, the war will flare up again. We all have to return to Indonesia. We will continue the war. I ask that the brothers and sisters also join the war until West Irian is handed over to us," explained Hatta, as written by Rohmat. in a Short Biography of Mohammad Hatta (2019).

Bung Karno and Bung Hatta (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Indonesia did not give up. Diplomacy is again being pursued. In the midst of diplomacy, Indonesia realizes that the results are always far from satisfactory. The UN seems to have never given importance to the issue of the West Irian dispute proposed by Indonesia. The Netherlands seems to be given the red carpet to win in the West Irian dispute.

The Indonesian people are starting to lose patience. Anti-Dutch sentiment emerged throughout the country. Dutch companies in Indonesia began to be destroyed until they were crossed out with provocative narratives. Some of them wrote "Evict the Dutch" to "Evict the Dutch from West Irian." As a result, the number of Dutch repatriations from Indonesia increased.

“The wave of repatriation of the Dutch people is increasing with the emergence of government policies for the Dutch to be expelled from Indonesia. The massive expulsion of the Dutch from Surabaya has reduced the European population in the city.”

“But at the same time, the migration wave of Bumiputras from outside the city has increased sharply, which has resulted in a very significant increase in the population of the city of Surabaya. The increase in population has consequences for other sectors, especially regarding the need for living space for newcomers,” said Purnawan Basundoro in the book Seizing City Space: Actions for the Poor in Surabaya 1900-1960s (2013).

Labor movement

Laborers in the Dutch East Indies (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Disappointment over the diplomatic failure of the West Irian dispute with the Netherlands began to be felt by national figures. Minister of Information Sudibjo is one of them. As the head of the West Irian Liberation Action, Sudibjo no longer sees the opportunity for Indonesia to win the dispute through diplomacy. Therefore, Indonesia began to pressure the Dutch through the workers on December 1, 1957.

“In response to the failure of Indonesia's resolution at the United Nations, on December 1, the government announced a 24-hour strike against all Dutch companies. Minister of Information Sudibjo as chairman of the West Irian Liberation Action committee, with the approval of the cabinet, has given the instruction through RRI."

"As a result of the strike for 24 hours, it is estimated that Bealnda companies have lost more than Rp. 100 million more," wrote Bondan Kanumoyoso in the book Nationalization of Dutch Companies in Indonesia (2001).

The workers welcomed the government's efforts to pressure the Dutch. Because, from the start, the workers, especially through their union network, had urged the Indonesian government to take over Dutch companies. However, this suggestion was only realized when the government began to instruct a mass strike.

After that, the workers began to take over one Dutch company after another. They chose the Dutch shipping airline, Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij -- the forerunner of PELNI -- as the first Dutch company takeover initiative.

Labor in the Dutch East Indies (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The action was pioneered by the dock workers' union peacefully without violence. They occupied the KPM office on December 3, 1957. "In the morning of December 3, 1957 a group of leaders of the labor union Concentration of Indonesian People's Workers (KBKI) forced their way into the manager's room at the Head Office, Jakarta, and proclaimed the takeover of KPM."

"Faced with this situation, the management stated that they must first discuss the problem with the government, and their leadership answered: we and the workers are the government," the report quoted HW Dick as saying in the book Indonesian Shipping Industry: Competition and Regulation (1985). .

The nationalization of Dutch companies continues. The workers began to take over other Dutch companies. One of them was the takeover of a large Dutch company known as “The Big Five” (Jacobson & van den Berg, Internatio, Borneo-Sumatra Maatschappij: Borsumij, Lindeteves, and Geo Wehry).

The workers become more confident because behind them there is a government that supports them. Because of that, all workers welcomed nationalization with great joy. In the eyes of the workers, nationalization efforts will later be able to prosper them.

This view is considering that the employer of the workers is no longer the Dutch, but the Indonesian people themselves. Moreover, they held a salvation event (a traditional Javanese feast) as a symbol of the workers' victory over the Dutch companies.

“Bung Karno continues to lead the National Liberation Struggle. When Indonesia's resolution on West Irian was rejected by the UN session in 1957, trade unions began to nationalize Dutch companies, including expelling Dutch workers who were still in Indonesia. The takeover of the Dutch-owned company's capital was fully supported by Bung Karno, which was later strengthened by Government Regulation no. 23 of 1958," said Agus Jabo Priyono in the preface to Bung Karno's book: Nationalism, Democracy and Revolution (2013).

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