Lecturers Downfall in the Absence of Union

This article was originally written and published in Indonesian on February 21, 2023.

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The concept of Tridharma of Higher Education consists of education, research, and community service. However, it often overshadows other essential aspects, such as welfare and a safe space for lecturers and researchers. In addition, restrictions on the space of freedom in the university became a vital factor for lecturers and academics to form a union as a room to deliver their aspirations and fight for their rights as workers.

“What makes it difficult is that the lecturer’s task is not only to teach but also to research,” complained Suci Lestari Yuana. It’s not exclusive to Suci; role conflict is also a common problem other lecturers face. This means that faculty members have a lot of work to do, both as a lecturer and researcher. Suci, who teaches at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), considers that this will impact the declining performance of lecturers.

The work of the lecturers as educators is very time-consuming. As a result, research projects have to be carried out outside of teaching hours. “I sacrifice my time outside of working hours to conduct research. Usually at night, after 10 pm until 2 am,” complained Suci. According to her, this condition is forced to happen because research time management at UGM is still not explicitly regulated.

In addition to role conflict, low income often forces lecturers to do various other jobs. Randy Nandyatama revealed this based on his experience as a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM. According to Randy, the basic salary of lecturers is low, especially for new lecturers. “Low income often causes lecturers to work on any project that has no continuity with their profession as a lecturer,” said Randy.

This fact is one of Randy’s concerns. “This can be destructive and affect students because lecturers are only oriented towards research projects.” According to him, if research projects are not correlated with learning in the classroom, their performance as educators will have a negative impact. Even Randy is concerned about lecturers who only conduct research projects for personal gain.

Employment status is also a problem for lecturers. “I feel much uncertainty about my rights as a lecturer,” says Suci. She realizes that her employment status is still in transition, so it cannot be equated to lecturers with permanent status. However, according to her, the lecturer recruitment system at UGM is still ineffective based on the seniority aspect that prioritizes prominent lecturers getting the title of civil servant (PNS). Moreover, the appointment process for a civil servant lecturer in his department last occurred in 2015, causing a new discourse of uncertainty.

Randy also feels concerned about UGM’s permanent lecturer status. Based on his experience since 2012, UGM has promised to equalize the position of permanent campus lecturers with civil servant lecturers who have a pension. However, Randy has not received proof of the statement until the pension fund program had been running for the last two years. His status is still a UGM permanent lecturer without a pension. He feels that the answer to these concerns is to form a union to encourage more transparency and clarification.

Responding to the lecturer’s complaint, Suadi, as the UGM Director of Human Resources, revealed the mechanism for delivery of lecturer complaints has been regulated depending on the level of the problem. Thus, the resolution process can be addressed hierarchically through study programs, departments, faculty, or university based on the suitability of the problem. He also added that legal issues regarding teaching and learning activities had been termed internal audits. “The mechanism is carried out through evaluating the entire teaching process, especially within the scope of the study program, by assessors to look at various learning problems,” continued Suadi. 

However, Suadi himself still needs to confirm its effectiveness. “Whether it is implemented or not, I cannot give a quantified answer,” he said. He also cannot guarantee its functionality to accommodate all existing complaints due to the varied nature of the problems. In addition, Suadi also explained that not all issues could be pursued with this resolution mechanism.

In the Shadow of Egocentrism

According to Jimmy Irwansyah’s perspective, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia (UI), based on the earlier context mentioned, a union of lecturers must be formed to gather strength in advocating for the rights of lecturers as workers. According to him, the problems lecturers face require collective efforts because the work of lecturers goes beyond the individual. “I can teach in front of the class due to the support of colleagues. It is apparent that there is a collective problem, a collective interest,” said Jimmy, who is active in the Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom community.

Through lecturers’ unions, according to Dhiah Al-Uyyun, a law lecturer at Brawijaya University, problems that occur can be resolved collectively, thus adding strength compared to individual resolution. For this reason, according to her, lecturers’ unions are one of the ways to liberate the rights of lecturers who have been taken away.

The problem is lecturers tend to keep their mouths shut and refrain from expressing their complaints and aspirations. “From the beginning, lecturers were equipped with feelings of fear, the title of a hero without a medal, forced to accept anything, resulting in their unwillingness to resist,” she said. According to her, lecturers’ tendency to keep their mouths shut is also influenced by the perception that lecturers are professionals with higher social status than other jobs.

Besides, the formation of lecturer unions abroad has become commonplace. In the Netherlands, lecturers move collectively when dealing with problems. According to Herlambang, lecturer at the Faculty of Law UGM, thousands of professors and students protested to fight for their rights. He revealed that such masses effectively prevent a proposal from being accepted and changing a decision.

Unfortunately, such conditions do not exist in Indonesia’s academic climate. “Here, lecturers are still egocentric, so they are unable to form a collective consciousness,” said Uyyun. He felt that solidarity has yet to be formed because they still move individually and convey ideas sporadically. In addition, Uyyun added that the lecturers have no desire to express an opinion or problem through a forum.

Jimmy’s opinion reinforces this statement: “Lecturers are one of the most individualistic professions.” Furthermore, according to him, lecturers often feel they are not workers. However, they receive yearly tax receipts indicating that they are salaried workers. “This can be seen when protesting the establishment of the Job Creation Law. In this case, the campus positions itself as a sample instead of acting as a critic,” said Jimmy.

Raising Indonesian society’s collective awareness, including lecturers, is undoubtedly difficult. According to Herlambang, this happens because not everyone knows the importance of organization. To foster collective understanding, he said that it could start with the minor things, “We can start by practicing the traditions of academic freedom around us, such as saying what needs to be said,” he said. 

Based on Uyyun’s experience, many lecturers want to form a union. However, some of them feel that this is difficult to realize. “This lecturers’ union is still considered taboo in some university circles,” she explained. Another factor, according to Uyyun, is the reluctance of lecturers to solve problems that concern their rights by resisting through an organization. Furthermore, she considers this to be due to the university’s limited space for academic freedom.

Unionize Against Foundation

In 2020, the foundation of Universitas Proklamasi 45 Yogyakarta (UP45) unilaterally terminated the employment of four lecturers and suspended one of them. The lecturers’ critical stance towards the foundation and poor financial governance and campus management sparked a conflict that led to the deprivation of their rights. In response, the UP45 Lecturers’ Union was formed as a resistance movement against the foundation as the campus administrator.

“Often, when lecturers express their aspirations regarding issues within the university, the foundation responds repressively,” said Habib, the Chairman of the UP45 Lecturers Union. This response takes the form of suspensions and unilateral terminations. He deeply regrets the foundation’s attempts to silence the critical voices of the lecturers.

UP45 lecturers’ union was well received by the lecturers. “Initially, the union was merely an association aimed to lessen the burden on lecturers in expressing complaints and opinions about their work. Subsequently, the association will convey their opinions and aspirations to the private foundation,” explained Habib. He also added that it had been proven effective within the internal scope to address various issues within the campus environment.

Since its formation until the present, the UP45 Lecturers Union has proven to be effective in protecting the rights of lecturers. “So far, within our internal sphere, I believe it has been quite effective in addressing various issues within the campus environment,” explained Habib. He added that there are complex problems within the academic community, necessitating the formation of a union on a broader scale.

Based on this conflict at UP45, Habib, as the chairman, believes that forming a lecturers’ union is urgent in Indonesia. “It is evident that there is an insufficient fulfillment of the fundamental rights of lecturers and employees on campus. During the pandemic, numerous unilateral terminations occurred within the campus,” stated Habib.

The formation of lecturers’ unions in several universities shares a similar background. As explained by Jimmy, the lecturers’ union at UI was triggered by the cancellation of the Education Law, which was seen as potentially problematic. Since its establishment in 2009, The UI Lecturers’ Union has been involved in developing regulations a few times, including creating the UI Statutes. “This indicates that if unions remain strong on campus, the democratic conditions within the campus will improve due to the involvement of academicians,” added Jimmy.

However, Jimmy believes that the UI Lecturers Union currently needs to grow. “In the past, they were enthusiastic when there were cases. But over time, solidarity has diminished,” he said. According to Jimmy, this is a consequence of various maneuvers by the government since the implementation of Legal Entity State University or PTN-BH. The UI Lecturers Union still exists formally, but its members have started to become divided.

The UP45 Lecturers Union has also experienced efforts to weaken its position. “The foundation has sought to undermine us by creating a similar institution under its direct supervision,” revealed Habib. This situation has made it easier for the foundation to control the union and even create divisions among different factions. Habib acknowledges that this challenge must be confronted when forming an association within the campus scope.

Uyyun believes that cases experienced by lecturers at UP45 are likely to also occur at other universities. “Instances such as unilateral terminations, inadequate wages, and numerous academic violations committed by campus authorities are quite prevalent,” explained Uyyun. According to her, the union can serve as a way out of these problems.

Herlambang himself recognizes that the struggle for these rights will require effort. Nevertheless, he believes that the freedom of campus democracy must always be pursued. “I am confident that if we do not succeed tomorrow, we may succeed the day after tomorrow or next week. It is indeed challenging, but nothing will be in vain,” he concluded.

Authors: Cikal Pasee Uria Timur, Siti Fatria Pelu, and Takhfa Rayhan Fadhillah (Interns)
Editor: M. Fahrul Muharman
Photographer: Surya Intan Safitri (Intern)
Translator: Afifudin Baliya