Indonesia’s formal labour dispute resolution system has long been slated for review, with a draft law and accompanying academic manuscript released in 2020. It is listed on the National Legislature’s priority list for 2025–2029. This paper analyses Indonesia’s labour dispute resolution system using an historical institutional lens. While many commentators saw the creation of Indonesia’s post-reformasi system, with the introduction of the Industrial Relations Courts, as a fresh start, in fact many of the current problems with the system can be traced back to much earlier in time. That is, there are ‘sticky’ institutional procedures and assumptions which have carried forward to the present and interact negatively with the current system. I argue that paying attention to these factors are key to effectively redesigning the system for the future.