Step by Step: Women of East Timor, Stories of Resistance and Survival

Step by Step: Women of East Timor, Stories of Resistance and Survival is available from ETAN - http://etan.org/resource/books.htm#B89 StepbyStep

Review by Jen Hughes

Step by Step: Women of East Timor, Stories of Resistance and Survival edited by Jude Conway and launched in Australia nationally in 2010, presents 13 oral histories from Timorese women, with each story accompanied by several pages of photographic snapshots from their lives.

The collection of stories reveal the role women played in East Timor's independence struggle on the guerilla front, the diplomatic front and in the student movement inside and outside the country and afterwards.

The opening story told by Ceu Lopes Federer provides a lens through which to read the subsequent twelve stories. The work Ceu and her compatriots did to meet the financial needs of the resistance inside and outside Timor, to keep it alive and strong, and to provide them with accurate information about what was going on outside in relation to East Timor gives the reader an insight into how important women were in the solidarity movement that was the backbone to the diplomatic front.  Mica Barreto Soares' story tells how Timorese studied in Indonesia and the work they did for East Timor inside Indonesia. The two show the importance of the women's solidarity work to the survival of the guerilla movement inside Timor and segue into the stories about the work Timorese women did all over the world. They also provide background for the sometimes small but extremely risky activities of other storytellers when they speak of secreting letters and notes, medicines or food, inside clothing and bluffing their way through Indonesian positions inside East Timor and Indonesia.

La'o Hamutuk staff talk about current issues in Timor - Tues, Aug 2, NYC

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network invites you to
join La'o Hamutuk researchers for a discussion in a wide-ranging discussion of current issues in Timor-Leste.

Tuesday, August  2, 2011, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Ave (btn 34 and 35 St), Room 5307, Manhattan

with Juvinal Diaz and Charlie Scheiner

Next year Timor-Leste, the most petroleum-export-dependent country in the world, will elect its President and Parliament. What will the elections mean for Timor-Leste's future? What are the key issues?

Juvinal and Charlie research and advocate on issues of economic development, petroleum and sustainability, justice and accountability, Timor-Leste's budget, imminent borrowing from foreign agencies, and more. 

La'o Hamutuk (Walking Together): Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis is a research and advocacy organization in Dili, Timor-Leste. Juvinal studied agriculture at the University of Timor-Leste, worked as a community organizer, and has been part of La'o Hamutuk's Natural Resources and Economics Team since 2009. He is passing through New York  Charlie is a member of ETAN's Executive Committee and has lived in Timor-Leste and been with La'o Hamutuk for the last decade.  www.laohamutuk.org 

more info 917-690-4391

Say it ain't so, Mo! - Nike in Indonesia

Guest blog by Jeff Ballinger

Jeff Ballinger, global worker rights researcher/activist
Twitter: @press4change


My apologies for references to baseball, the U.S.A.'s "national pastime", but the exasperation expressed by the quote, "Can't anyone here play this game?" perfectly captures my reaction to the news last week that a Bangladesh factory run by Grameen (Nobel-laureate, Muhammad Yunus) was closed after attacks by rioting garment workers. [Given the toxic political atmosphere in Bangladesh and current bad relations between the  government & Grameen, there could be some behind-the-scenes (political or freelance-extortion) provocateurism.]

The foregoing is noted with more sadness than surprise, as it comes on the heels of a searing Associated Press report ten days ago, about how Converse/Nike shoes are made in Sukabumi, West Java. ("Nike says nearly two-thirds of the factories that make Converse products fail to meet standards for contract manufacturers...")

Converse shoes are displayed at a store in Jakarta, Indonesia. Irwin Fedriansyah | The Associated Press

I have been warning (whining?) -- and here -- about Nike's deployment of "codes of conduct", Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and business self-regulation schemes for more than a decade; here's the evidence that this noxious media manipulation has, for the most part, succeeded:  Almost all the comments about this AP story were either expressing surprise ("We thought that Nike had fixed that.") or, that this type of "gotcha" story was inevitable when a big brand sources from nearly a thousand factories. In other words, the Sukabumi story is a one-off (and what a great challenge it is to police the supply chain).  In fact, this story could have been written 15 -- or five -- years ago, and it could have described almost any Nike-producing factory in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, etc.  The default position of virtually all garment production is something akin to what Frederick Douglass wrote in the 1850s: "Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."


You may be thinking, "Oh, it is the 'race to the bottom,' then?"  Not so fast. Folks who remember the years-long strike wave in Indonesia during the early- to mid-90s will recall that the minimum wage rocketed from 86 cents to $2.46 per day.  Instead of running off to Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, Nike-supplier factories increased investment and the Nike contract-workforce went from 22,000 to 110,000.  It was still a very good deal in Indonesia at triple the price for labor!  [The 'Underground Economist' of the Financial Times cites a brilliant study by Berkeley economist on these latter two points...]

In this AP photo taken May 26, 2011, workers leave a factory that make Converse shoes, in Gunung Putri, West Java, Indonesia. Workers making Converse sneakers in Indonesia said supervisors throw shoes at them, slap them in the face and call them dogs and pigs.

The Douglass principle still held up, however; these brutal contractors would not pay a penny over what was required and - as Nike continued to assemble a team of phony "responsibility" operatives - the Korean and Taiwanese bosses devised new ways to cheat workers.  Tens of thousands were denied severance pay ($32 million in Indonesia alone, I calculate) in the early- to mid-2000s and work became more "precarious" with short-term contracts and outsourcing. Nike's feckless "responsibility" team (now numbering over 210!) could do little more than lament the fact (see transcript beginning @10:54) that Nike HQ is powerless.  By the way, the video clip that I have is devastating: Nike's CSR vice-president giving a condescending lecture on poverty-level wage to young CNBC reporter. [Any help I can get in uploading this to Youtube would be most appreciated!] Reminds me of the lesson I received on Wage Elasticity from a World Bank staffer in the parking lot of the American Club in Jakarta (1990). I could not tell him what I thought of this slavery/servitude justification because he was the only poker player in our group more inept than myself...


But, hold on a minute - don't tell the U.S. anti-sweatshop students' movement or some determined group of Vietnamese expats that you cannot force Nike to directly deal with contractors' depredations! The Vietnamese forced Nike to broker a million-dollar settlement... students' story - pls see below. 


[Fragment from what I wrote for the War Resisters League's WIN magazine some months ago]: 

How did university students achieve a string of victories for Latin American workers? United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) has assisted more than 4,000 college-logo garment workers in Honduras and the Dominican Republic by deploying grassroots pressure tactics and carefully crafted appeals to university administrators. Even in the midst of a global economic downturn, diligent research combined with determined activism on the part of the wronged workers forced Russell Athletic to reopen a factory that was closed to thwart unionization. It produced an agreement between Nike and the CGT union of Honduras to pay restitution to 2,100 workers illegally denied severance benefits when two suppliers for the shoe giant closed abruptly last year. In addition, the students' persistence in seeking ethical alternatives has led the largest brand selling to bookstores, Knights Apparel, to pay more than triple the Dominican Republic's minimum wage to hundreds of workers. Merchandise from the Alta Gracia factory is already on 140 campuses. 

The research to monitor compliance with "codes of conduct" for factories was carried out by the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC; launched by the USAS in 1999) and funded by 123 universities, based on a percentage of university-licensed apparel sales. While the codes include language about "freedom of association" and collective bargaining -- specific trade union protections -- the Russell case was the first in nearly a decade of activism that delivered meaningful redress when the Jerzees de Honduras plant was shuttered as collective bargaining talks were under way. For 14 months starting in early 2008, USAS teams in North America and Great Britain convinced administrators at 110 schools to stop purchasing from Russell Athletic. College bookstores are the company's largest revenue source. In late 2009, the Jerzees de Honduras factory was reopened and Russell has pledged not to oppose unionization at seven other factories it owns and operates nearby.

In essence, these two inspiring stories are like the early days of the East Timor Action Network, when no one would believe that an activist group with almost no budget could win against the Pentagon, lobbyists of arms-makers, and diffident politicians. Our current struggle for justice in West Papua is facing the usual challenges, complicated by "conventional wisdom."  What do I mean by this?  See what PBS/Newshour reporter, Ray Suarez said about Indonesia just last week: "Indonesia hasn’t managed to do is root out the legendary levels of corruption that discourages foreign investment." Now, how could he say this immediately after saying, "...solid years of back to back to back high levels of economic growth"?  How can you say, on the one hand, that corruption inhibits growth, while the evidence of double-digit growth has been the reality for Asia's most corrupt countries for two decades?  Any ideas on how to fight this pervasive misperception?

Protest Kissinger - Monday, July 18, 2011, 5 - 7 pm New York City

Update: See photos from July and May demonstrations


He's Back! Spread the word!

Demonstrate against Henry Kissinger

Monday, July 18, 2011, 5 - 7 pm
Citi Building, 399 Park Ave. (btn. 53 & 54 Sts.), Manhattan


Join ETAN and other organizations in protesting Henry Kissinger's latest public appearance in New York. 

Photo by John M. Miller/ETAN

Remind people about Henry Kissinger's sordid and criminal history concerning East Timor, West Papua, Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Angola and elsewhere.

On December 6, 1975, then Secretary of State Kissinger and President Gerald Ford visited Jakarta. At their meeting, Ford gave Indonesia's dictator Suharto an explicit go ahead for the invasion of East Timor and Indonesia invaded the next day. According to East Timor's Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) up to 180,000 died as a direct result of the illegal invasion and occupation. Declassified and leaked documents show that Kissinger understood that Suharto was balking at invading, concerned that the U.S. would cut off its supply of weapons and military training. Kissinger guaranteed continuation of weapons shipments. According to Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation as many as 180,000 people died as a result.  For more on Kissinger's role in East Timor click here.

In addition to ETAN, initial sponsors of the protest include World Can't Wait , War Criminals Watch, and the War Resisters League.


Download and print out ETAN's Hold Kissinger Accountable leaflet to distribute. 


Contact ETAN - 718-596-7668 for more information or to help out. 

Please help spread the word

Read The Trial of Henry Kissinger 

by Christopher Hitchens

Paperback $12
Order from ETAN 

Are you interested in observing Timor's 2012 elections? Let us know.

ETAN wants to know if you and others are interested in being involved in an international solidarity election observation delegation to Timor-Leste next year. Presidential and parliamentary elections are planned for the first half of 2012. Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering your time as an observer. Do you have experience and knowledge about Timor-Leste from your solidarity work -- or perhaps past election observing in Timor-Leste -- that provide the longer-view perspective that effective election monitoring requires?

ETAN has not yet decided whether we will organize an observer delegation for next year. Your response will help us with this decision. We want  if you might be interested in being involved, what your experience is, and what kind of time and resource commitments individuals and organizations might be able to offer to this effort. The prospects for financial support also will be an important consideration.

Timor-Leste NGOs are currently focusing on women's participation - especially as potential candidates - and the role of youth. The National NGO Forum has told us it may support international participation in the electoral process and has indicated it is looking for guidance on how to engage in the larger process, not just election day observation.

If you are interested, we very much want to hear your response to the following questions:

• Are you interested in volunteering your time for a minimum of three weeks, but ideally longer, for this purpose?
• Do you have experience and knowledge about Timor-Leste from your solidarity work, and perhaps past election observing in Timor-Leste, that would help you to offer the longer-view perspective that effective election monitoring requires?

We know that elections are but a small piece in the picture. Too often, democracy is narrowly and exclusively equated with elections. That said, many Timorese colleagues have expressed the need for international observers to assist the still new country in having fair and honest elections next year.

ETAN members have observed every election since 1999. During the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections, we played a major role in organizing for Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET), supporting 48 volunteers from 10 different countries. SOMET volunteers observed pre-election campaigning, election day voting, vote counting, and its aftermath. SOMET participated in a joint press conference after the election with several Timorese organizations.

If you are interested in being involved, should a delegation be organized, please let us know by e-mailing etan@etan.org.  Please share this email with others who might be interested in being involved. The more information we get now from those interested, the sooner we can plan and make a decision.

In solidarity, 

ETAN