KASBI Confederation Holds Simultaneous May Day Events in Dozens of Regions
The Konfederasi Kongres Aliansi Serikat Buruh Indonesia (KASBI) is not only holding an International Labour Day action in Jakarta on Friday, 1 May 2026. KASBI General Chairman Sunarno stated that at least 18 regions will serve as action points for this year’s May Day.
These regions include Indramayu, Garut, Tasikmalaya, Semarang, Surabaya, Palembang, Musi Banyuasin, Ogan Komering Ilir, and Ogan Ilir. KASBI is also conducting International Labour Day commemorations in eastern Indonesia, such as in Sambas, Kutai Timur, Berau, Bulungan, Makassar, Morowali, Gorontalo, and Central Halmahera.
For the May Day 2026 commemoration in Jakarta, KASBI is joining an alliance called Gerakan Buruh Bersama Rakyat (Gebrak). They will hold an action in front of the People’s Representative Council building on Friday afternoon, 1 May 2026.
He said they refuse to join the International Labour Day commemoration in the Monas area, Jakarta, which is merely celebratory. “The actual labour conditions remain very concerning,” he said when contacted on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
According to him, labour unions should maintain their independence amid attempts at co-optation by those in power during this year’s May Day commemoration. Because, he said, a labour movement that is not independent and subservient to political interests will ultimately harm the workers themselves.
“May Day should be a moment of resistance against injustice, not just a ceremonial parade far removed from the objective conditions of Indonesian workers’ lives today,” Sunarno stated.
In the May Day 2026 action, KASBI together with the Gebrak Alliance will voice several demands. They are urging the state to immediately realise an Employment Law that is pro-worker.
The second demand is to reform the wage system and eliminate wage disparities. The alliance requests that workers 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 the state provide welfare to educators and health workers, halting mass layoffs, realising free education and healthcare, and upholding civil supremacy.
The alliance also demands that the government implement true agrarian reform by stopping land evictions of the people, and actively engage on the global stage for world peace.