One of the country’s oldest foreign investors PT Sepatu Bata, the makers of the well-known footwear brand Bata, says it may move its operations overseas after a series of violent labor disputes.



External union organizers at the company’s factory in Purwakarta, West Java, have on several occasions sealed the doors of the plant and refused to allow people to leave.



Such incidents have not been exclusive to the Swiss-based company, whose products have been beloved by Indonesians for generations.



The Japanese connectivity component maker PT Japan Solderless Terminal Indonesia said it lost US$6 million between January and October after external union organizers “attacked” their factory in Cibitung, Bekasi, West Java.



The disruptions that have plagued the firms are two examples of a host violent labor actions that have occurred in Southeast Asia’s larges...