REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Workers grouped in the Indonesian Workers Unions Confederation (KSPI) have voiced their rejection to the entry of blue-collar or yellow-hat workers into Indonesia. The workers expressed their objection during peaceful rallies held by the KSPI in 25 provinces to observe May Day on Tuesday.
They put forth at least three important demands: reduction in the prices of rice, electricity, and fuel; rejection of low wages; as well as the refusal of yellow-hat foreign workers from China. Other demands included abolition of the outsourcing system and the election of pro-Labor presidential candidates.
KSPI President Said Iqbal affirmed that his organization and other trade unions on Monday night had been invited by the Jakarta Police chief for a dialog on the implementation of May Day.
Laborers stage a rally at Medan Merdeka Barat Street, Central Jakarta to commemorate May Day, Tuesday (May 1).
The police chief responded positively to the May Day action plan and urged workers to take action in an orderly and peaceful manner and to not pose a hindrance to the interests of other people.
"The KSPI agrees with the appeal of the Jakarta Police chief, and the KSPI has made assurance that the action of May Day will be held in a peaceful and orderly manner across Indonesia," he remarked.
The KSPI has declared it is organizing peaceful rallies in 25 provinces and 200 districts and cities to observe May Day on Tuesday.
President of KSPI Iqbal, in a written statement in Jakarta on Tuesday, forecast that some one million workers will follow the peaceful action of Labor Day in 25 provinces and 200 districts across Indonesia.
Iqbal pointed out that May Day actions are being simultaneously conducted across Indonesia including in Surabaya, with 50 thousand workers in front of the East Java governor's office; 15 thousand workers in front of the Central Java governor's office; 15 thousand workers in front of the office of the mayor of Batam; two thousand workers in Aceh; 10 thousand workers in North Sumatra; and thousands of laborers in western Java.
He noted that in Jakarta, peaceful rallies were centered in front of the Merdeka Palace by bringing together masses of workers from Jakarta and surrounding cities (Jabodetabek), Serang, Karawang, Purwakarta, with the point of congregation at the Indosat Horse Statue.
Thousand of laborers from various organization stage a rally to observe May Day 2018 in front of Gedung Sate, Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday (May 1).
"The long march by laborers from the Horse Statue to the front of Merdeka Palace was undertaken until 1 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB). The workers then headed to the Istora Senayan sports complex to declare the presidential candidate for the 2019-2024 period and will be selected and supported by Indonesian workers," he noted.
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Apart from the KSPI, the congregation of workers also came from the Confederation of Indonesian Folk Workers; the Federation of Indonesian Trade Unions; the Nusantara Committee of the State Civil Apparatus; the Federation of Postal and Logistic Workers of Indonesia; the Honorary Forum Category 2 of Indonesia; the All Indonesian Workers' Organization; and the Indonesian Port Workers' Federation, among others.
They unfurled banners bearing various demands; such as the ratification of the Revised ASN, or state civil apparatus, Act 2018 and Indonesia to become a national research-based industrial country; the improvement of health insurance services; revocation of Government Regulation No 78 of 2015 on Labor Wages; and revision of the Decent Living Cost provision from 60 to 84 points.
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