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Labor Day celebrated nationwide with range of demands
Jakarta Post - May 2, 2015
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, as well as rallies and speeches, May Day was celebrated with artistic and musical performances, attracting protesters to enjoy the show after the rallies.
Performances were held on a stage erected under the Makassar flyover, organized by the Coalition of Democratic Community (Kamrad).
The workers demanded an end to violence against workers and the eradication of low wages and outsourcing in all fields of work in Indonesia.
"[Outsourcing] has long been a common enemy and has long been rejected. This requires serious attention from the Joko Widodo – Jusuf Kalla administration," said Umar from Kamrad.
Makassar City Police deployed 1,500 personnel to secure the May Day celebrations, including 150 policewomen. Dozens of the female police officers displayed a banner reading "The big family of Makassar City Police says Happy World Labor Day".
In Semarang, Central Java, meanwhile, thousands of workers celebrated May Day with rallies, speeches and theatrical performances on Jl. Pahlawan.
The chairman of the Central Java Federation of Workers Associations, Suwardiyono, said that workers in the province did not yet enjoy an equal relationship with bosses.
In Medan, North Sumatra, hundreds of workers grouped under the North Sumatra People's Movement Consolidation (KGR-SU) celebrated Labor Day with a rally at the provincial legislative council building.
They called on people not to trust political parties, arguing that parties, which were supposed to voice people's aspirations, had become routes to power for power's sake. This had led to workers' rights being ignored, KGR-SU coordinator Ronald argued.
"Let's build the people's politics. Forget political parties. Fight bourgeois politics," Ronald said during the rally.
In Pekanbaru, Riau, thousands of workers celebrated May Day with activities including performances and a dialog with the city mayor.
The celebration was centered at the Gedung Juang 45 building. Workers spread a giant poster in front of the building, bearing 12 demands addressed to the government.
Their demands included an end to five-yearly wage deliberations, pension implementation by July this year and rises in the prices of fuel and staple foods to be based on market mechanisms.
In Bandung, West Java, May Day celebrations were centered in front of the Sate Building on Jl. Diponegoro, with a range of workers' group in attendance.
Also participating were dozens of journalists from the Bandung branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI). The latter carried posters reading "Journalists are workers too", "Media workers awaken, associate now" and "Apply a media sectoral wage".
The alliance's worker association division coordinator, Ari Syahril Ramadhan, said that journalists remained unaware of the importance of association in their workplace to help guarantee their welfare as workers.
"Despite mass media being such a large sector, with hundreds of firms, there are currently only 38 media workers associations," Ari told the rally.
[Apriadi Gunawan in Medan, Rizal Harahap in Pekanbaru and Arya Dipa in Bandung contributed to this story.]
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