Marsinah

The second child of Sumini and Mastin, Marsinah grew up under the care of her grandmother, Puirah, and her aunt Sini, in Nglundo, East Java. She went to school at Karangasem Public School 189, subsequently Nganjuk No.5 Middle School. Her girlhood years were marked with commerce, selling snacks in order to augment the incomes of her grandmother and aunt. Marsinah's final school years were spent at the Muhammadiyah Boarding School, her educational advancement being denied due to lack of money.

Unable to find employment in Nglundo, Marsinah turned her attention to the big cities, sending in job applications to Surabaya, Mojokerto and Gresik. Hired by Bata Shoes to work at their Surabaya factory in 1989, she moved a year later to the Catur Putra Surya (formerly Empat Putra Surya) watch factory in Sidoarjo. Making a lateral transfer to their Porong factory after its opening, Marsinah eventually found herself serving as a spokesperson for her fellow workers.

When, in 1993, the Governor of East Java announced a raise in the provincial minimum wage, Catur Putra Surya (a company with ties to the Indonesian military–industrial complex) refused to comply. On 3-4 May workers went on strike demanding implementation of the minimum wage and that the local unit of the state-controlled union, SPSI, be disbanded.[3] Marsinah went to the Indonesian Ministry of Labor to retrieve a copy of the gubernatorial directive to deliver to the CPS management.

Demonstration on the 25th anniversary of Marsinah's murder, Jakarta, 8 May 2018. The text reads "Marsinah – workers' hero and people's hero"

On 5 May, the Sidoarjo District Military Command summoned 13 workers to its headquarters and forced them to sign letters of resignation, with eight more to follow in the next couple of days. Outraged by this turn of events, Marsinah decided to go there herself and demand an explanation that very same day. She was never seen alive again.[2] She was raped and tortured. Her mutilated body was found some distance from the factory days later.[4]

Indonesian police attempted a coverup of Marsinah's murder. Individuals were brought to trial for her murder but were later released when it was discovered that their confessions had been coerced. While the military had been involved in the factory's security and there was evidence pointing to military involvement in her murder, the murderers were never brought to justice.[4]

Women's groups and human rights groups applied pressure and a broad range of Indonesians commemorated Marsinah's martyrdom. Campaigns by Indonesian women's organisations, labour organisations, and human rights groups featured Marsinah.[4] Indonesian media was slow to report the incident at the watch factory. Two weeks passed before the Surabaya Post reported on the incident. A fact-finding team independent from the government was established by the Workers Solidarity Forum (FORSOL) two weeks after the discovery of her body. Within a month, the Komite Solidaritas Untuk Marsinah (KSUM), a solidarity committee formed by 20 non-governmental organisations, was formed to monitor and investigate the actions of authorities in relation to the murder.[5] Marsinah's murder was also used by human rights groups to pressure the United States to prevent the renewal of Indonesia's most favoured nation status.[4]

In 2002, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri approved an investigation by the Human Rights Commission.[6]

She was posthumously awarded the Yap Thiam Hien Award, and her murder was officially noted by the International Labour Organization as Case# 1773.[7]