Developing women laborers' understanding about their public role through civic education training: Study on cigarette industry in Malang, Indonesia

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1912
• Published date: 01 February 2019
• Date: 01 February 2019

ACADEMIC PAPER

Developing women laborers' understanding about their public

role through civic education training: Study on cigarette

industry in Malang, Indonesia

Budhy Prianto

Department of Public Administrative Science,

The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences,

University of Merdeka Malang, Malang,

Indonesia

Correspondence

Budhy Prianto, Department of Public

Administrative Science, The Faculty of Social

and Political Sciences, University of Merdeka

Malang, Jl. Terusan Raya Dieng. 62‐64,

Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia.

Email: budhy.prianto@unmer.ac.id

Funding information

Directorate of Research and Community

Service, Directorate General for Research and

Development at the Ministry of Research,

Technology and Higher Education, Indonesia,

Grant/Award Number: 020/ADD/SP2H/LT/

K7/KM/2017, 28th August 2017

Based on our previous findings, it is known that women laborers have weak position

both individual and industrial relations. The weakness is caused by the lack of both

knowledge and understanding of their rights and also obligations as laborers, gender,

society member, and citizen. This study aims to increase civic knowledge (cognitive)

and understanding (effective) of women laborer, especially those related to political

knowledge. This study uses qualitative experimental approach. Data were obtained

through interviews with women laborers after the implementation of civic education

training. The results show that after training, there is a slight increase in knowledge

and understanding of the politics in women laborers. It is also found qualitatively that

the improvement of knowledge and understanding is influenced by the quality of edu-

cation of women laborers and patriarchal cultures adopted in the family of women

laborers. In conclusion, the training increases women laborers' knowledge slightly

about their public role.

1|INTRODUCTION

A number of rules and conventions have been made and ratified by

the Indonesian government in order to uphold and protect the rights

of workers/labors, especially women labors. The worker economic

and social rights are human rights. The state is obliged to provide

and protect it. The following women labor fundamental rights ought

to be protected by the state: (a) the rights on equal wages on similar

work, (b) the right to equal opportunity, (c) the right not to receive dis-

criminatory treatment in the workplace, (d) the right relating to repro-

ductive functions, and (e) the right to conduct self‐actualization in the

community (Sunarijati, 2007). Nevertheless, the rights realization is a

far cry from rules and conventions.

The state has not been able to guarantee the realization of

equality. Equality is not an independent matter. It requires a number

of socioeconomic conditions and cultures. Denial of equality is a

reflection of the strong embeddedness of patriarchal awareness and

sexism in the community (Soetjipto, 2003). Law No. 1 of 1974,

concerning marriage, strengthens the conditions of such injustice,

especially in terms of differences in the age of marriage between

women (16 years) and men (19 years) and the position of men in

households. The men tend to be more dominant than women.

Changes in the socioeconomic condition will open up huge opportuni-

ties for shifting people's awareness toward a more egalitarian under-

standing of the relations of men and women.

Constructed rules did not guarantee the protection of labor rights,

especially for women (Wardani & Gadis, 1999). The state, as the party

most obliged to provide and protect these rights, often acts as a violator

of human rights. The government/authorities collaborate and allow these

violations to occur in various places. This is a clear evidence exhibiting

that political power is not in a position to side with women. Economic

policies issued by the government, in fact, more closely follow the int er-

ests of international institutions, rather than the interests of poor

women. For example, fuel oil price rose due to International Monetary

Fund (IMF) pressure would then be followed by labor demonstrations.

In industrial relations, employers pay female labors lower wages

compared with male workers. According to the International Labor

Organization, the national average of women labors wages is slightly

Received: 20 June 2018 Revised: 21 November 2018 Accepted: 26 November 2018

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1912

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1912.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1912

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of9