Female Workers from Cirebon Voice Aspirations at May Day Event in Monas
Jakarta (ANTARA) - A group of female workers from Cirebon, West Java, travelled 241 kilometres from Cirebon to Monas in Central Jakarta to voice their aspirations during the 2026 International Labour Day (May Day) commemorations.
One of them, Vania Aulia Dewi, stated that the company where she works supports the International Labour Day observance.
“We departed from Cirebon on 10 buses. Each bus carried over 30 workers. All the participating PTs brought 900 people. One PT had around 350 people. The company did have an agenda for it,” Vania said at the Monas area on Friday.
Along with other fellow workers, she joined a convoy from Cirebon using a fleet of buses facilitated by the office.
She admitted wanting to voice workers’ rights, especially for female workers, at this May Day event.
“It’s more about the rights of workers, particularly women, many of whom haven’t received them yet, like days off, and also wage increases,” Vania revealed.
Furthermore, Vania recounted that to go on holiday, she must first take on overtime to have leave allowance.
“It’s just enough. Enough, but I have to do overtime first. The holiday is in Jakarta,” Vania said.
Meanwhile, Vania’s colleague, Elly, disclosed that the regional minimum wage (UMR) equivalent salary she receives currently is insufficient to cover personal care expenses.
“It’s lacking, every year skincare gets more expensive. Especially with staple goods added, it’s lacking for personal care,” Elly expressed.
She admitted needing to be careful in managing expenses to still meet personal care needs, including buying skincare.
“Yeah, it’s lacking. So, we have to be smart in budgeting Cirebon’s UMR money to be able to buy skincare,” Elly stated.
Regarding the amount spent on skincare needs, she said there is no fixed figure.
“It’s not fixed (spending on buying skincare),” Elly said.
For information, based on data from the Cirebon City Manpower Office website, the 2026 Cirebon City Minimum Wage (UMK) is set at Rp2,878,646.
Meanwhile, the 2026 Cirebon District UMK is set at Rp2,880,797.86, up from the previous year’s Rp2,681,382.45.