100 Thousand Workers March to Merdeka Palace to Mark May Day

Jakarta, May 1 (Antara) - Some 100 thousand workers marched to the Merdeka Palace from the Arjuna Wiwaha Horse Statue roundabout at the southwestern part of the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Sunday to mark the International Labor Day or May Day. The workers who hail from Jakarta and environs came to the Monas square in 3 thousand buses, President of the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions (KSPI) Said Iqbal said here on Sunday. The workers came from the Federation of the Indonesian Metal Labor Union (FSPMI), the Indonesian Workers Movement (GBI), and the Federation of Indonesian Various Sector Labor Union (FSPASI), and other labor unions. During the commemoration of the labor day, the workers conveyed four demands, including a request to revoke Law number 78 of 2015 on waging system. "Revoke the waging system. Reject low wages and increase minimum wage in 2017 by Rp650 thousand," he said. The workers also called for an end to the attempt of criminalizing labor activists, and urged the government to stop the layoff of workers criminalized, and demanded the release of workers criminalized. They also called on the pubic to reject reclamation, demolition and tax amnesty.