Alliance of Workers' Movement with the People to Hold May Day at the DPR
Several labour unions under the Aliansi Gerakan Buruh Bersama Rakyat (Gebrak) have confirmed they will proceed with this year’s May Day action in front of the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR) building in Jakarta on Friday, 1 May 2026. They refuse to join the Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Seluruh Indonesia (KSPSI), which is holding its event at the National Monument alongside President Prabowo Subianto.
The Gebrak alliance consists of the Konfederasi Kongres Aliansi Serikat Buruh Indonesia (KASBI), Federasi Perjuangan Buruh Indonesia (FPBI), Federasi Serikat Buruh Makanan dan Minuman (FSBMM), as well as organisations from various societal elements. KASBI Confederation Chairman Sunarno stated that approximately 10,000 people will participate in the protest in front of the parliamentary building.
“We are adopting the theme ‘May Day with the People’,” he said when contacted on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
Sunarno explained that the action organised by his group differs from the one held by KSPSI at Monas. He described the May Day commemoration in front of the DPR building as an independent and autonomous action.
“The May Day celebration at Monas, in our view, is laden with mainstream narratives and power co-optation,” he remarked.
FPBI Chairman Herman Abdulrohman stated that there is no guarantee that holding Labour Day with the president will fulfil all the demands of the labour unions. According to him, organising Labour Day with the head of state actually obscures the meaning of the day for the working class.
“For us, May Day is a day of commemoration to reflect on the conditions of the working class in terms of work, wages, and livelihood,” Herman said when contacted on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
The Gebrak alliance is bringing several demands to the May Day action in front of the DPR building. First, they urge the state to promptly realise a pro-labour Employment Law. They request that the discussion on forming this legislation involve labour unions.
The second demand is to reform the wage system and eliminate wage disparities. The alliance calls for workers to receive fair and dignified national wages.
Other demand points include ensuring job certainty, abolishing the outsourcing system and contract work, ratifying ILO Convention 188 and ILO Convention 190, demanding that the state provide welfare to educators and healthcare workers, halting mass layoffs, realising free education and healthcare, and upholding civil supremacy.
The alliance also demands that the government implement genuine agrarian reform by stopping the eviction of people’s land, and actively engage on the global stage for world peace.