Perempuan Ulee Pulo dan Industri Kecil Batu Bata: Peran Ekonomi Keluarga dan Upaya Pemberdayaan

Abstract

Ulee Pulo Village, Dewantara District, North Aceh Regency is a small brick industrial area. This material is needed as a building material. The construction worker/laborer profession is identical to the menial jobs performed by men. However, the brick as a building material is produced by women, such as in Gampong Ulee Pulo. Most of the workers in the small brick industry are housewives who are looking for additional income. But the brick production process is out of date. This makes the bricks produced are of low quality because they are undercooked during firing, crushed, and the thickness is not uniform. This condition encourages BUMG Ulee Pulo to carry out empowerment programs for small industry players and brick workers who are predominantly women. This study describes the role of women and efforts to empower the brick business in Ulee Pulo village. The research method used is qualitative with data collection techniques in the form of interviews, observation, and documentation. The entire data obtained were analyzed in a reduced way, then presented so that it was easy to understand, and conclusions were found. The results showed that the empowerment strategy was carried out through coaching and training of female brick industry workers where the funds were sourced from BUMG Gampong Ulee Pulo.

Abstrak

Gampong Ulee Pulo Kecamatan Dewantara Kabupaten Aceh Utara adalah daerah penghasil batu bata. Material ini dibutuhkan sebagai bahan bangunan. Sebenarnya profesi tukang/buruh bangunan itu sendiri identik dengan pekerjaan kasar yang dilakukan oleh kaum laki-laki. Namun batu bata sebagai bahan material bangunan ternyata diproduksi oleh kaum perempuan seperti di Gampong Ulee Pulo. Sebagian besar pekerja industri kecil batu bata adalah para ibu rumah tangga yang mencari penghasilan tambahan. Tetapi proses produksi batu bata sudah ketinggalan zaman. Hal ini membuat batu bata yang dihasilkan berkualitas rendah karena kurang matang saat pembakaran, hancur, dan tingkat ketebalan tidak seragam. Kondisi ini mendorong BUMG Ulee Pulo melaksanakan program pemberdayaan kepada para pelaku industri kecil dan pekerja batu bata yang notabene didominasi kaum perempuan. Studi ini menggambarkan peran perempuan dan upaya pemberdayaan usaha batu bata di Gampong Ulee Pulo. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data berupa wawancara, observasi, dan dokumentasi. Keseluruhan data yang diperoleh dianalisis dengan cara direduksi, kemudian disajikan agar mudah dipahami, dan ditemukan kesimpulannya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa strategi pemberdayaan dilakukan melalui pembinaan dan pelatihan pekerja perempuan industri batu bata dimana dananya bersumber dari BUMG Gampong Ulee Pulo.