SUNARTI: A WOMAN HOMEWORKER IN YOGTA FOOD INDUSTRY

SITI ROMLAH: ROLE MODEL OF WOMEN HOMEWORKERS

SUNARTI : A WOMAN HOMEWORKER IN YOGYA FOOD INDUSTRY

At 24, Sunarti has been working as a homeworker in a rural Yogyakarta village for more than 10 years. Since her childhood, after dropping out from Grade 4 of Primary School, she has worked as an Emping mlinjo or food cracker maker. Emping mlinjo are chips made of mlinjo (Gnetum Gnemon) seeds.

For seven to eight hours a day (from 07.00 to 12.00 AM and from 13.00 to 15.00 PM or 16.00 PM) she sits on a small and low stool on the floor making the food cracker, surrounded by equipment, raw material, and the cooked emping mlinjo she made. She has a small wok on the kerosene stove full of hot sand and the "klathak", the seed of Mlinjo as the raw material on her right. She also has a small stone which she uses to hit hot "klathak" to break its shell open revealing the white seeds inside the shell. Then she places the white seeds on a large square cement board in front of her. She lifts an iron pounding tool 30 centimeters in length and of a cylindrical shape and lets it fall on the seeds. About four to five seeds are pounded one at a time to make a round, flat, mlinjo cracker. The round stuff is than placed on transparent plastic mats to dry.

Lifting and banging the heavy cylindrical tool everyday for 8 hours with no holiday makes Sunarti suffer from occupational health problems. She says that she often experiences muscle pain on her right shoulder blade, as well as stiffness on the back and lower limb. She feels the soreness of her right shoulder after hours of lifting up the heavy iron cylinder. She never receives any health benefits from her immediate employer. She does not know that a worker is eligible for social security when suffering from occupational health problems. She is not familiar at all with social protection for workers; she is not aware that workers are entitled to organize.

In a day, she can produce six to seven kilos of Emping Mlinjo cracker. The boss from whom she obtains "klathak" as the raw material is next door. Depending on the availability of raw material and her own capacity to buy it, she may work either as a subcontracted home worker, or as a self employed woman.

As a homeworker, she is paid a gross wage of Rp. 800/kilo (equivalent to 10 cents USD). All other costs except that for the klathak are borne by her. As a homeworker working an equivalent of 40 hours weekly, per month she only receivesRp. 140,000 - Rp. 150,000 (around US $ 16 - US $ 17) which is only 71% of the Yogyakarta Minimum Regional Wage. The standard for year 2001 is Rp. 194,500 For sure, if all of the costs she has contributed are subtracted, such as the space of the work place and the equipment mentioned, plus the kerosene, she receives much less than that.

When all costs are deducted, she receives a net wage no more than 50% of the Minimum Regional Wage. She is normally paid by the next door boss once she hands the half done cracker. She receives nothing more than the piece-rate payment for her labour which does not include use of her porch, equipment and kerosene variable costs. She neither receives a bonus nor enjoys holidays, let alone benefits as workers. This is impossible because she is not registered as a worker. She does not know if she is classified as a worker. For her, it is good enough that she earns to help meet the family's endless needs, particularly those of her children whom she feels obliged to give daily allowance for pocket money plus school fees. At the same time, working in her own home is a must for her, to be able to take care her children after school and to act as a homemaker as dictated by prevaiing gender roles. She does not even know that she is remunerated less than the standard minimum payment. Who cares ?