May Day sees thousands of peaceful marchers

May Day sees thousands of peaceful marchers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thousands of workers in the country observed International
Labor Day on Wednesday with rallies that passed off peacefully in
the main, but failed to live up to earlier boasts of huge turn-
outs.

It was business as usual in most factories when the workers
and labor activists took to streets to demand that the government
show its commitment to labor reform by increasing salaries,
improving working conditions and declaring May 1 a public
holiday.

There were minor scuffles between police and around 150
students in Surabaya, but peace and order were maintained
nationwide on Wednesday.

Last year's celebration was marked by violence when hundreds
of workers from a tile factory in Tangerang, West Java, ran amok,
leaving four cars and the firm's premises badly damaged.

Jakartans' fears of massive rallies on May Day did not
materialize on Wednesday as only half of the estimated 10,000
protesters representing 50 labor unions and non-governmental
organizations marched along the city's main thoroughfares. The
sweltering heat, which reached 33 degrees Celsius, did not stop
the workers from gathering at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle
at around 10 a.m.

No traffic congestion was apparent along the streets despite
earlier fears.

Around 1,500 workers grouped under the Committee for May 1
gathered at the National Monument (Monas) square at noon after a
public speech in front of the nearby State Palace calling on
President Megawati Soekarnoputri to respect workers' rights.

"Our interests are the same: social welfare. This day is about
workers, tycoons, factory owners, the Indonesian government and
the international community," union leader Dita Indah Sari told
the crowd assembled at Monas.

Dita demanded that the government and the House of
Representatives take concrete action to stop the troubling trend
of arbitrary layoffs. She also called for a 100 percent increase
in the minimum wage.

Dita, winner of Magsaysay Award last year, was jailed by
former president Soeharto for organizing labor protests.

Soeharto outlawed May Day celebrations and independent trade
unions during his 32-year rule. His successor, former president
B.J. Habibie, liberalized the labor laws in April 1999 and
ratified three International Labor Organization (ILO)
conventions, including those on the abolition of forced labor and
discrimination in the workplace.

ILO director Alan Boulton also told the workers protesting at
Monas that he supported their struggle and the demands they were
making, and urged Indonesian workers to unite.

Despite the rallies, the operations of companies in the Pulo
Gadung bonded zone in East Jakarta were not disrupted.

In response to the workers' demands for a holiday in
observance of Labor Day, Vice President Hamzah Haz said he
rejected the idea on the grounds that Indonesia already enjoyed
too many national holidays. The country has 13 holidays related
to religious and national celebrations.

"We already have too many national holidays ... but workers
may celebrate (May 1) if they want," Hamzah said after
officiating at a national discussion on economic recovery.

House leaders, however, backed the demand in recognition of
the contribution of workers to Indonesian society. Instead of
adopting International Labor Day, House Deputy Speakers Muhaimin
Iskandar and A.M. Fatwa suggested that Indonesian workers select
their own date.

"It would be better if the holiday commemorated a national
event, like the birthday of slain labor leader Marsinah,"
Muhaimin said, referring to a labor leader who was murdered for
organizing a protest in Sidoarjo, East Java, in 1993.

Police were on alert in Bandung, where two days of massive
labor rallies last year left scores injured. Labor rallies were
also reported in the North Sumatra capital of Medan and the South
Sulawesi capital of Makassar.

A huge photograph of Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea was
burned in Medan in protest at his opposition to the workers'
demands for a national holiday to mark May Day.

In Gresik, East Java, police arrested four labor activists for
allegedly forcing workers of a company to join a rally.

In Makassar, workers gathered in at least three locations
across the city and began to march on the gate of the Reform
Tollway. The protesters also demanded a 100 percent salary rise.

Independent labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan had earlier called
on workers to skip work on May Day and stage demonstrations
instead. Pakpahan, who is also vice president of the World
Laborers Confederation, maintained that although May 1 was not a
public holiday in Indonesia, a 1951 law which allowed workers not
to work on that day was still valid.