Indonesian union leaders explained how cooperation and targeted organizing led to growth at the IMF Indonesian Project Meeting in Indonesia. The meeting was part of a 3-month project supported by SASK.
INDONESIA: With only days to go until the IMF Central Committee in Jakarta, union leaders from FSPMI and Lomenik reported on how they recruited over 2,000 new members, as a result of a 3-month SASK project.  Although the results are impressive, given the short time period, the original target for the project was for 6,000 new members. Indonesia is made up of 17,000 Islands and the difference between the result and target was explained by the unions and was mainly due activities established in new regions. Having established a presence in the new regions, both unions felt it would become easier to attract new members and grow at a faster rate.
The 3-month project was developed following an earlier IMF 4 country meeting, at which a set of golden rules was adopted to strengthen the trade union movement in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The underlying strategy behind the golden rules is to strengthen the unions locally, nationally and globally.
In addition to organizing, the unions developed closer cooperation as part of the project. Both unions signed a memorandum of understanding, which sets out how they will work together and how they will resolve potential conflicts. Examples of the new level of cooperation were the activities carried out to support a recent social security bill that had passed through Parliament. This achievement highlighted the importance of both unions working together.
 "I want our regional work to be result orientated. Setting targets and measurable objectives is the only way we will see the effectiveness of our work", said Jyrki Raina, IMF General Secretary.
In addition to reviewing the results of the 3-month project, participants discussed the potential to continue the project for 3 years more. Both unions agreed that growth and addressing structural issues which affected their sustainability should be a central part of any new project.
One particular issue to be addressed is the question of union dues collection and also the level of dues paid by new members. Both unions have their own strategy to deal with this issue, but other unions in developing economies have already tackled the problem, and there may be some learning opportunities from other countries.
A commitment to further develop a project proposal for 2012-2014 was the outcome of the meeting. This future project will set ambitious growth targets, build on the existing cooperation between FSPMI and Lomenik, and explore the possibility to work with other union Federations such as LEM, in order to strengthen the union movement in Indonesia as a whole.http://www.imfmetal.org/index.cfm?c=28316