Around 2.8 Million Workers To Join Strike

Jakarta, 3/10 (ANTARA) - Chairman of the Indonesian Labor Assembly (MPBI) Said Iqbal said 2.8 million workers all over the country will join a one-day strike Wednesday demanding abolition of the out sourcing system of labor recruitment. Some of the workers will demonstrate in front of the the House of Representatives in Jakarta and the legislative assemblies in the provinces all over the country, Iqbal said here on Wednesday. Iqbal who is also the president of Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions (KSPI), said the biggest strike would be held in the industrial district of Bekasi including at the industrial estates of Ejip, Jababeka and MM 2100, where 500,000 workers will take part. "I suggest the mass media people go to Ejip, Cikarang,in the regency of Bekasi earlier or you are almost certain to be trapped in heavy traffic jams," said. MPBI asks for apology from the Indonesian people for the inconvenience caused by the strike. Earlier Iqbal said the strike will be concentrated in 80 industrial centers in more than 21 regencies/cities all over the country. "The agenda is demand for the abolition of Outsourcing System in recruiting workers, pay hike and health security for all not only workers to be effective in 2014 not in 2019 as set by the government," he said. He said the strike will be staged in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Serang, Cilegon, Karawang, Purwakarta, Sukabumi, Cimahi, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Mojokerto, Pasuruan, Gresik, Batam, Karimun, Medan, Deli, Makassar, and Bitung. At the same time demonstrations would be held at regional legislative assemblies in Aceh, Riau, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi and Papua . In regency of Bogor, the neighboring district of Jakarta, police said 20,000 workers are expected to take part in the strike. Bogor police spokeswoman Adj. Comr Ita Puspita Lena said 3,000 police officers stood ready to deal with the protesters and maintain order. From Semarang, the capital of Central Java, a labor union leader said 500,000 workers will join in the nation wide strike. The Riau Island branch of the Indonesian Association of Metal Industry Workers (FSPMI) said thousands of industrial workers in the special economic zone of Batam, Bintan and Karimum in the Riau Island province would take part in the strike. "It is not an action against the employers although it would result in a halt to the process of industrial production," Otong Sutisna, chairman of the Riau Island branch of the FSPMI said. The strike is more in protest against the government`s lack of concern with the condition of the workers, Otong said. He said thousands of industrial workers in the Riau Islands province have the status of outsourcing workers facing dismissal any time without separation pay. "We think we have to take action to force the government to accept the workers` demands," he said, adding the government needs to address the workers` social security.