18,860 Cikarang Workers Join Monas Rally to Commemorate May Day
Nearly 19,000 workers from industrial zones in Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java, have set off from various assembly points towards the National Monument (Monas) to participate in the central commemoration of International Labour Day or May Day 2026.
“They are already at Monas, escorted earlier by joint security personnel, departing from seven assembly points,” said the Head of Industrial Relations at the Bekasi Regency Manpower Office (Disnaker), Fuad Hasan, in Cikarang on Friday.
He stated that the main assembly points for the worker masses included Saung Buruh and PT Mattel for the Jababeka area, the GIIC and Delta Mas industrial zones, Hyundai, Ejip, Gobel, MM2100, and Marunda Center.
Hundreds of public transport buses, private vehicles, and command vehicles transported thousands of workers to join the celebration at Monas under the theme “May Day Welfare 2026 Workers, One Determination for Progress, One Goal for Industry, and Prosperity Together”.
“Some of them also moved to the DPR and MPR RI buildings. Meanwhile, hundreds of workers rode motorbikes to celebrate at the Bojongmangu Camping Ground,” he said.
This year, the Bekasi Regency Government (Pemkab) did not hold any International Labour Day commemoration activities, following instructions from the central government through the Ministry of Manpower to centralise International Labour Day 2026 activities at the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta.
“It is centralised at Monas, in line with central directives, attended directly by the President. So there are no activities here,” he added.
Meanwhile, one of the trade union members, Muhammad Iqbal, stated that the worker mass movement to Monas aims to celebrate International Labour Day while delivering several aspirations to the government.
These aspirations include demands for the abolition of the outsourcing system, rejection of low wages, cessation of unilateral Employment Termination (PHK) practices, and evaluation of the work apprenticeship programme.
“We hope that labour policies always favour workers and align with the Constitutional Court (MK) rulings,” said Iqbal.