The role of trade unions as an instrument of legal protection and a builder of humanistic industrial relations in fulfilling the rights of lecturers in Indonesia

Abstract

The welfare of lecturers in Indonesia demonstrates persistent structural inequality. This is evident in the excessive workload coupled with disproportionate income and weak legal protection in academic employment relations. Although lecturers hold professional and intellectual positions, in practice they remain subject to the jurisdiction of labor law as workers. This situation demonstrates the often-overlooked collective rights of lecturers. This article analyzes the role of campus labor unions as both legal protection instruments and agents shaping humanistic industrial relations in higher education. This research employs a normative juridical method with legislative, conceptual, and analytical approaches, through a review of labor regulations, empirical data on lecturer welfare, and legal and interdisciplinary literature. The results indicate that campus labor unions play a strategic role in providing preventive and repressive legal protection, including safeguarding normative and collective rights, negotiating collective labor agreements, and representing lecturers in resolving industrial relations disputes. Beyond its formal legal function, labor unions also serve as a space for collective awareness that encourages humanistic communication, participatory dialogue, and respect for the dignity of lecturers within higher education governance. Strengthening campus labor unions is a crucial prerequisite for the realization of fair, democratic, and sustainable industrial relations in the higher education sector.