Tempo
Interactive - May 1, 2010
Ahmad Fikri,
Bandung – A number of labour and peasant organisations in the West Java
provincial capital of Bandung commemorated May Day by holding a protest action
in front of the governor's office.
"Today
is the commemoration of May Day, commemorating the workers' struggle to obtain
the right to an eight hour working day, eight hours rest, and eight hours with
the family", said Sudaryanto, the West Java regional coordinator of
Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) during a break in the action
on Saturday May 1.
More than
1000 people spilled over into Jl. Diponegoro in front of the Gedung Sate
building. In addition to banners and billboards, the protesters also brought a
replica of a giant rat painted blue with the writing "The SBY-BDY
[President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Vice President Boediono] regime has failed
to bring prosperity to the people" in read letters.
Sudaryanto
said they intentionally brought the replica rat because of the prohibition by
police on bringing animals to protests. He added that protesters from KASBI
throughout Indonesia had also been instructed to bring giant rats to the May
Day demonstrations. The rat, symbolising the current administration, was then
placed on the ground and smashed to pieces.
According to
Sudaryanto workers are treated as if they have no value and the state is
responsible for this due to the many anti-worker government policies such as
the planned revisions to Law Number 13/2003 on Labour that will reduce
severance pay levels.
A group of
women workers at the demonstration also demanded equal treatment as their male
colleagues. "Women workers are oppressed from two sides, by the
patriarchal system as well as the capitalist system", said Diah Septi
Tresnati from the Indonesian Labour Movement Union Preparatory Committee
(KP-PPBI).
Tresnati
said that employers prefer to employ female workers by taking advantage of the
patriarchal system that tends to position women as weak and docile creatures
that are more easily exploited. Women workers tend to mostly be employed as
casual or contract workers and do not receive the same benefits as male
workers.
Prior to the
KASBI action, group of around 20 journalists also commemorated May Day.
"Journalists are also workers," said Agus Rakasiwi, the chairperson
of the Bandung City Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).
During the
action, in which representatives of different journalist organisation took
turns in giving speeches, they focused on union busing practices within media
companies. Rakasiwi said that according to AJI's records, only 100 media
workers were dismissed last year, but already this year there have been mass
dismissals and suspension of labour activists with 217 workers being sackings
by Indosiar TV, 144 by Berita Kota (City News) in Jakarta and 50
workers by the newspaper Suara Pembaruan. Rakasiwi added that many
journalists are paid low wages and work without employment contracts or are
paid according to the number of reports carried.
[Abridged
translation by James Balowski.]
