Care work is essential. But in Indonesia, the workers who provide it –most of them women–are too often undervalued, underpaid, and conditions are far from decent work.
This is why feminist organising is at the heart of efforts by Public Services International (PSI) and the Federation of Pharmaceutical and Health Workers Union – Reformasi (FARKES-R) to build stronger unions in Indonesia’s hospitals. By putting women and young workers at the centre of organising, unions are challenging the sexist assumptions that devalue care work and building collective power to demand change.
The scale of the challenge is significant. Indonesia has more than 1.5 million healthcare workers across 3,300 hospitals, yet health workers can earn well below what their qualifications warrant—and, in some cases, below the statutory minimum. Women make up almost 70% of the health workforce, while healthcare remains one of the lowest-paid sectors in the country when workers’ qualifications are taken into account. University-educated health workers earn substantially less, on average, than workers in male-dominated sectors such as construction, transport, mining, manufacturing, electricity and gas, with pay gaps of up to 70%.
FARKES-R is organising hospital workers to turn this inequality into collective action –advocating for equal pay, bargaining for fair and transparent wage scales, and campaigning on occupational health and safety and against workplace intimidation.
Feminist organising to change the rules
Through an ‘Organising Care with Care’ model, unions are helping hospital staff ensure that the value of their work is recognised by management, government and the general public. But progressing towards equality also means addressing barriers in union practices that can prevent women and those with caregiving responsibilities from fully participating. FARKES-R is therefore introducing feminist organising approaches that build confidence and skills among women leaders, while placing the interests and concerns of young members at the heart of union work.
Hera, a woman union leader in the hospital’s Pharmacy Department, is developing new ways of organising that acknowledge the time constraints faced by women and youth unionists, making it easier for them to take on leadership roles.
“As a wife or a mother,” Hera notes, “there are often a lot of responsibilities for women workers, and this can make it hard to manage being part of the union.”
Effective organising therefore requires demonstrating the real-life benefits that strong unions can bring to “issues like job security and workplace harassment,” but it is also about “making the union fun,“ she said.
Alex, Chairperson of the Cempaka Putih Islamic Hospital Local Union in Jakarta, works closely with Hera. He said that joining the union has given him the opportunity to build self-confidence and develop new skills, helping him recruit more than 200 new members while expanding the union’s cooperative services throughout the hospital. However, he credits the previous leader, Ms Ita, with making this possible by supporting, encouraging and mentoring him.
“Being a successful leader means improving the wellbeing of workers, especially your members. But it’s also about regeneration, creating and supporting new leaders,” he said.
Solidarity and collaboration for young unionists
FARKES-R National Chairperson Evi said that it can be intimidating for new union members, particularly young women, to organise in hospital settings. Historical expectations about the “duty” of women and nurses to care for others, shift work that limits interactions across the workforce, and ideas of professionalism that reject the identification of healthcare employees as ‘workers’ (buruh) are often used by management to divide workers, create hostility towards unions, and undermine fundamental rights.
To address this, FARKES-R is running national ‘Solidarity Camps’, bringing together union members and organisers from different provinces to build skills and knowledge around workers’ rights while strengthening relationships and confidence. Participants analyse critical challenges in the health sector and identify opportunities for joint action. The camps combine traditional organising skills, such as workplace mapping, identifying organic leaders and strategic planning, with games, laughter and bonfires.
At the Solidarity Camps, young organisers gain practical skills and friendships that help sustain their work even in the face of management hostility. The bonfires, according to Evi, symbolise “the igniting spirit of our solidarity. From this togetherness, we are ready to move forward with greater focus and solidarity in every decision we make in our future struggle!”
Under the Partnerships for Decent Work in the Indo-Pacific Program, FARKES-R intends to work with the global union Public Services International (PSI) and sister unions in the Philippines and Australia to mobilise these new feminist approaches to organising, challenge patriarchal power structures, and ensure health workers achieve safe, decent and fair working conditions.
After all, as FARKES-R reminds us, “strong and united health workers are the cornerstone of quality public services for all!”
This project is supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions through Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA’s Partnerships for Decent Work in the Indo-Pacific program.
