Labor Power

This is a long due post. Even though the issue that triggered me to write has passed but I found that the thought is still relevant. So I decided to post it.

Last week (circa the end of 2014)  thousands of blue-collar workers marched through the central area of Jakarta adding nightmares to Jakarta's severe traffic gridlock, and creating a stream of cursing on Facebook timeline. The laborers went on a strike. They demanded an end to the cheap labor scheme and an increase in the minimum wages.

The rally was supported by an example of a laborer's monthly living cost breakdown that stirred up controversies in social media. At the most, people (read: my Facebook friends) were disagreed. They felt that the standard of living the laborers wanted was too much.

One of my friends posted a satirical question "why do you have to live in a 36sqm house with a washing machine and drinking coffee and milk every day?"

And a few of my other friends and their friends added up with these comments: "Even my first salary as a bachelor graduate wasn't as much!" And "laborers demanded a salary that is higher than a bachelor graduate's."

Another question was something along this "Who made this non-sense breakdown for the laborers?" And then got commented with something like "obviously, they are stupid enough to come up with a ludicrous demand like that!"

I looked at the living cost breakdown, and my immediate concern was the clothing budget. I know clothing is one of the secondary needs, but I don't think it should be larger than a monthly saving.

Other than that I think the expenses are standard.

But the tension point is interesting. The white collars feel that the blue collars demanded something that they can't have or even think they could have.

When I started my first job, I was underpaid. I didn't get to negotiate anything, I didn't know if I should've been insured or was entitled to other forms of compensation. I was so clueless, and I was squared in a spot where I should've been grateful that I could land the job.

I discussed with my friends about our salaries, and I felt better because I wasn't alone. We all were underpaid, so "what's the big deal?" Just prove ourselves through good works, pave our way up to the top and we'll eventually get our desired salary. Some things are right, like making our work our currency. But some things are not right, one of them is letting our collective misery to be the reason to accept this unfair condition.

Here's what's unfair, the tuition fee is skyrocketing to the infinity and beyond. Government education subsidy is ineffective, and it's not a secret that education is not our government's priority. My parents hardly had vacations because they had to work extra hard for their children's expensive education. Some other parents even had to go extra miles to loan money for their children's education.

But then, after graduated, the fresh grads have to work underpaid. The reason is that the first working experience is worth more than anything. Is it? For me it is, but it should not justify why the fresh grads get less salary than they deserve.

But why many of my friends and I didn't go marching on the roads and demanded an end to this unfairness?

I think this might be about the way we see things. In Western culture, once a child is graduated from college they are completely on their own. While in our culture, a child is considered independent only when they can start their family. This culture could somehow castrate the young people to grow to their maximum potential.

When I was a fresh graduate, I thought being an independent person meant I could pay for whatever I needed and wanted. But I forgot that I still lived in my parents' house, drove their cars, enjoyed free meals and got my laundry done at no cost. In a way, my almost bare minimum first salary was acceptable because I still had my parents' supports.

I was lucky, and so were many others that commented on the Facebook I'm sure. But, luck isn't always fairly distributed. And what do you have to do to break the vicious circle? I salute those blue collar workers for fighting for their rights.

Because sometimes the lucky ones are either forgetting it or have been anesthetized with easiness for too long we've lost sights on equity.