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Workers press political demands at Labor Day rallies nationwide
Jakarta Post - May 2, 2014
Margareth S. Aritonang and Sita W. Dewi, Jakarta – Thousands of Indonesian workers marked Labor Day on Thursday by demanding the next government put an end to the cheap-labor policy and provide better protection for labor unions.
With the presidential election set to be held in the next few months, several labor unions called on political figures contesting the July election to directly address their demands.
Workers grouped under the Confederation of Indonesian Worker's Union (KSPI) and its partner organizations such as the Indonesian Metal Workers Federation (FSPMI) gathered at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Central Jakarta on Thursday to publicly announce their support for the presidential bid of Prabowo Subianto of the Gerindra Party in return for his commitment to fulfilling a list of 10 demands proposed by the KSPI.
The gathering appeared similar to open-air campaign events staged by political parties in the lead-up to the legislative election. Male and female dangdut singers entertained the crowd until KSPI president Said Iqbal eventually took to the stage to officially declare the union's support for Prabowo.
"Through this opportunity, we pray that God may make [Prabowo] president," he said. When asked about the details of the KSPI's support for Prabowo, Said told the press that the former commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) was the only presidential hopeful who responded to KSPI's invitation to the gathering.
According to Said, the KSPI had also invited Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Aburizal Bakrie from the Golkar Party. "We've several times invited Jokowi to attend our gatherings, including this one, but to no avail."
Despite Said's complaint, dozens of female workers grouped under the Women's Action Committee met with Jokowi at his official residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, earlier in the day, where they called for equal rights for women workers.
The workers complained that many female workers did not receive allowances, such as a spouse's allowance, which were given only to male colleagues. They further demanded that female employees' rights be guaranteed by manpower laws, including menstrual leave, maternity leave, facilities for women working night shifts and breast-feeding rooms at work.
The celebration of Labor Day on Thursday also saw the culmination of a 10-day rally, the Obor Marsinah (Torch of Marsinah), organized by 60 labor and rights groups nationwide in order to honor Marsinah, a labor activist who was raped and murdered because of her demands for workers' rights in 1993.
Tiara Eka Pratiwi from the Perempuan Mahardika, one of the 60 organizations participating in the rally, told The Jakarta Post that the event was aimed at pressing for justice for Marsinah as well for other murdered pro-democracy activists including Wiji Thukul and Munir Said Thalib.
"The struggle for justice for all workers cannot be separated from such figures and the reasons why they were murdered. We will thus pass on the message to workers to encourage them to remember," Tiara said.
Thursday was the first time the nation celebrated Labor Day as a national holiday, thus ending the annual complaints from white-collar workers in the capital who often faced massive traffic jams because of the rallies.
Workers from various companies in Central Java held a ceremony and morning gymnastics with Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo on Jl. Pahlawan, Semarang, on Thursday. "Workers and businesspeople need each other. Without you, [the economy] will not work," Ganjar said.
In Medan, thousands of workers from various trade unions rallied at the Majestik traffic circle, Jl. Gatot Subroto, and at the office of the governor of North Sumatra on Jl. Diponegoro.
At the rallies, workers rejected low wages and demanded a substantial increase in next year's minimum wage. "Workers reject the policy of cheap labor. Workers demand that next year the [minimum] wage should be increased by 30 percent," head of the North Sumatra chapter of the FSPMI, Willy Agus Utomo, said in his speech at the Majestik traffic circle. (put)
[Apriyadi Gunawan and Suherdjoko contributed to this story from Medan and Semarang.]
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/05/02/workers-press-political-demands-labor-day-rallies-nationwide.html
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