Reports still circulate on the involvement of the police and the military in labor matters,
although their involvement is now less visible. One exception to this was when army troops,
who were pelted with rocks and other missiles, fired rubber bullets on striking workers at a
steel plant near Jakarta—23 workers, as well as three soldiers, were injured (BDHRLHR,
1999).
A common feature of the culture in Indonesian organizations is the keluarga besar concept,
which means that staff are seen as part of ‘‘one big family which shares common purposes, and
friendly and familiar relationships’’ (Rohdewohld, 1995, p. 115). One illustration is the
practice of either paying married workers more than unmarried workers or by providing extra
allowances for those with a spouse and children (e.g., a larger allocation of rice per month).