Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2011
Numerous articles and books have been written on workermanagement cooperation.1 It may be of interest to students of industrial and political relations to study such arrangements in Asian countries. This article will discuss such an arrangement in one of the Asian countries—i.e., worker-management councils (dewan perusahaan) in Indonesia, as they have developed from 1960 up to June 1964.
1 For example, Blumenthal, W. Michael, Codetermination in the German Steel Industry (Princeton 1956)Google Scholar; Sturmthal, Adolf, “The Workers' Councils in Poland,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, XIV (April 1961)Google Scholar; Derver, Milton, “Workers' Participation in Israeli Management,” Industrial Relations, III (October 1963), 51–72Google Scholar; Bogosavlevit, M. and Pesakovic, M., Workers' Management of a Factory in Yugoslavia: A Monograph Dealing with the “Rade Koncar” Worlds (Belgrade 1959).Google Scholar
2 Government Regulation No. 19/1960. In Lieu of Act of Parliament, State Gazette No. 39, signed by Acting President Djuanda, promulgated in April 1960. It is to be noted that “Government Regulation in Lieu of Act of Parliament” indicates a regulation issued, because of urgency, before it has been passed by Parliament; such a regulation, however, must be adopted by the next session of Parliament or else be rescinded.
3 Presidential Regulation No. 7/1963, with regard to the authority relationship between B.P.U. State Trading Corporations and the state trading corporations. For further information about Indonesian labor relations, see Hawkins, Everett D., “Labor in Transition,” in Indonesia, ed. by McVey, Ruth T. (New Haven 1963), pp. 248–71.Google Scholar Hawkins states that the worker-management council (which he terms an “Enterprise Council”) can be seen as the manifestation of an increased tendency toward state guidance in labor relations.
4 Government Regulation No. 45/1960, signed by President Sukarno on November 1, 1960.
5 See, however, Presidential Regulation No. 58/SK/M/1963, dated November 1, 1963, which stipulates that newspapers (private and state) possessing their own printing works are obliged to form a worker-management council. If they do not, their allocation of paper from the government (at the official subsidized price) will be withdrawn.
8 Panglaykim, , “Indonesian State Enterprises and Worker-Management Councils (Dewan Perusahaan),” Asian Survey, III (June 1963), 285–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7 Gotong royong is the Indonesian term for the common voluntary effort of a community aimed at benefiting the community as a whole or some member of it This term is often translated as “mutual cooperation,” which is inadequate in some respects; gotong royong is a strong trait among Indonesian communities.
8 Government Regulation No. 232/1961, signed by President Sukarno on October 12, 1961.
9 Briefly, the “Political Manifesto” (an official text) outlines the fundamental principles of the Indonesian Revolution and the general program for its conduct. The principles and objectives of the revolution are congruent with the social conscience of mankind and are elsewhere summarized as Pantja Sila (Five Principles)—i.e., religious belief, internationalism, nationalism (the fullest expression of the national identity), democracy, and social justice. The general program for the revolution calls for the application of these principles, under Indonesian conditions, in political affairs, in the economy, in social affairs, in mental and cultural development, in security arrangements, and in the setting up of new institutions, thus leading to the establishment of an Indonesian socialist society.
10 Data supplied by Mr. Godjali from the Department of Labor.
11 Hawkins, 263.
12 Information was gathered from Mr. Godjali of the Department of Labor, various managers, and a group of students of the Faculty of Economics in the University of Indonesia who did some research on the functioning of worker-management councils.
18 In the words of Boulding, Kenneth A.: “The worker is part of the ‘market’ of the enterprise—economically he is something like raw material” (Organizational Revolution: A Study in the Ethics of Economic Organization [New York 1953], 19).Google Scholar
14 See Panglaykim, , State Trading Corporations in Indonesia: First-Year Performance, 1961, Ph.D. thesis, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia, 1963.Google Scholar
15 Since this article was written, some progress has been made in the execution of these instructions.