Prototype Labour school for SPN Delegates in Bekasi

“Project management is challenging in a positive way. It requires courage, critical thinking, and collaboration to build a bottom-up initiative.”

The goal of the project is to increase power of SPN Union in Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, Morowali, Central Sulawesi

Main Objectives:

• Developing the understanding of union delegates about the importance of the power of the union.
• Developing the understanding of union delegates that union power can be achieved through increasing membership.
• Enhancing the skills of organising for union delegates.
• Based on evaluation of the scale-down prototype in PPMI in Bekasi, assess and develop the case for a long-term labour school in SPN Morowali.
• To upskill union trainers (including myself) involved in the project in the development and delivery of effective training.

Originally designed for SPN delegates in Morowali, this project by Alfian Al-Ayubby Pelu shifted its location to PPMI Union in Bekasi, West Java, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions. The revised project aimed to strengthen union power by providing training in organizing strategies. It focused on union capacity-building through a two-day labour school workshop for 27 workers from three factories—exceeding the initial participant target. The sessions emphasized the importance of increasing membership, understanding union power, and designing organizing action plans.

During the workshop, participants were split into groups and created three action plans: organizing new members through workshops, a football competition, and an online gaming event. While only two of these were successfully implemented, both efforts led to tangible results, with six new union members recruited. The workshop also highlighted the need for updated strategies, as many participants found their previous organizing methods outdated. Facilitators encouraged reflection and helped participants integrate new knowledge into real-world practice.

Although gender representation was a challenge—with only one woman attending despite ten invitations—the workshop addressed gender equality in union participation. The experience helped Alfian develop leadership, adaptability, and project management skills, while reinforcing his theory of change: that union power grows through collective organizing and member participation. The mini-project not only achieved its objectives but also sparked interest from other unions, opening pathways for future collaborations in labor education.