Uswatun Hasanah, 42 years old, is working three to four jobs at a time. She opens a warung in front of her house, sells chicken noodles and gasoline for motorcycles; works as a tailor, receiving orders from neighbors and customers; works as home worker, sewing embroidery that will later be sewn to shoes; and provides catering services upon request, usually during feast holidays. Her husband works as a truck driver, but only drive when there are goods to deliver. Mrs. Hasanah, her husband and their two daughters of 17 and 13 years old live in a modest house in Kedung Rejo village, Pakis sub-district, Malang district.

From a total of five jobs that she and her husband do, the family income is around IDR 1,500,000 per month. This is below the district’s minimum wage of IDR 1,635,000 and barely sufficient to support their family. The daughters are in school, but other primary needs must be put aside. The family does not participate in any social protection programs, including BPJS Kesehatan, the praised government’s revamped health protection scheme. The minimum subscription fee of IDR 25,000/month/person is better used for food and school, said Uswatun when asked why she did not access the BPJS.

Working as a home worker, Uswatun completes 20-30 pairs of embroidery in a month. Her employer will drop the threads in the beginning of every month and retrieve completed work at the end of every month. With a fee of IDR8,000 (75 cents) per pair, she will be paid IDR160,000-240,000 upon submission. If a submitted pair does not fulfill the required standard, she will have to replace with a new one without additional threads provided.

Working as a home worker, Uswatun completes 20-30 pairs of embroidery in a month. Her employer will drop the threads in the beginning of every month and retrieve completed work at the end of every month. With a fee of IDR8,000 (75 cents) per pair, she will be paid IDR160,000-240,000 upon submission. If a submitted pair does not fulfill the required standard, she will have to replace with a new one without additional threads provided. She and other women who do the same work have never been provided with any kind of training by their employers. They are, from the beginning, expected to already have the skills on embroidery.

She is a member of homeworkers group organized by Mitra Wanita Pekerja Rumahan Indonesia (MWPRI), a local NGO who organizes women homeworkers in East Java and is one of Implementing Partners of the ILO/MAMPU – Access to Employment and Decent Work for Women Project funded by the Government of Australia.

She has been working as a homeworker in garment industry for eight years. In the first six years, she made embroidery for Muslim veils and was paid IDR12,000 (USD 1,1) per piece. Unfortunately this work was stopped by the employer. Since 2012, she makes embroidery for shoes at a lower fee. In the 1st year, she was paid IDR6,000 (USD55cents) per pair. Entering the 2nd year, Mrs. Hasanah negotiated with her employer on a higher fee. “I am the one who asked for a raise, from IDR6,000 to IDR10,000, explaining that prices in general have risen and I worked for some years already. At first she (the employer) said no, but then we discussed. She finally agreed to raise the fee to IDR8,000 (USD72.7cents) per pair… I did this myself. I know I was being brave.” Uswatun was brave enough to do this with encouragement and support from MWPRI, from which she learned that negotiating is possible when presented with justifications and explanations.

In addition to agreeing to a raise, her employer was also willing to loan her IDR2million (US$200) as a start-up capital for her warung (small shop), without interest and time limit, but as long as she maintains the embroidery work. The idea of opening a small business came to her after participating in entrepreneurship course organized by MWPRI. “The money from making embroidery is not sufficient (to support my family), so I had to do something else. I participated in MWPRI’s entrepreneurship class and thought that I could sell something. I am lucky that my employer is a good person. I asked her for a loan and she was willing to give it to me. Now, I sell chicken noodles and gasoline. Well, I do not make much from the warung, but the money made from this warung is used to give my children some pocket money.” She may indeed lucky to have an understanding employer, a rare condition among homeworkers.

Uswatun is a women of many goals and continuous efforts. She hopes to send her oldest daughter to a university in Jakarta where the tuition is free, but the living costs is expensive. She also wishes to make and sell her own line of shoes in the future, not just supplying the embroidery. In the process, Mrs. Hasanah will maintain to be actively involved in organizing and capacity building activities organized by MWPRI.