Reasons Why the Gebrak Alliance Will Not Join May Day at Monas
Several labour union organisations have rejected joining the May Day celebrations at the National Monument in Jakarta, organised by the All-Indonesian Labour Confederation (KSPSI). Those rejecting are united under the alliance named Gerakan Buruh Bersama Rakyat or Gebrak.
This alliance has decided to hold a demonstration to commemorate Labour Day in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta on Friday, 1 May 2026. Chairman of the Indonesian Labour Struggle Federation, Herman Susanto, stated that the conditions of workers in the country today are still far from decent.
“So it is not yet appropriate for us as workers to celebrate with festivities amid wages that are not yet decent to meet living needs and family,” he said when contacted on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
That statement alludes to the May Day celebrations held by KSPSI at Monas together with President Prabowo Subianto. Herman said that the closeness of labour unions with the head of state in celebrating May Day does not guarantee certainty of workers’ welfare.
According to him, this often happens in various previous events. For example, when several labour elites got close to the head of government, but the state still enacted the Job Creation Law that disadvantaged workers.
“So being close to the president does not necessarily bring workers closer to improving their fate,” Herman said, representing the Gebrak Alliance.
General Chairman of the Confederation of the Congress of Indonesian Labour Alliances (KASBI), Sunarno, said that the May Day celebrations at Monas with the president are fraught with power co-optation. He highlighted the remilitarisation in the Prabowo Subianto regime.
According to him, the role of the military is now increasingly strengthening, seizing civilian domains such as in the implementation of the free nutritious meal project, national strategic projects, to various authoritarian government programmes. “Even in responding to criticism and differing public opinions (from the government), violence and criminalisation are often used,” he said on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
He stated the need for an independent and self-reliant movement to escort various demands in this year’s May Day action. He is concerned that the closeness of labour union groups with the president will only harm workers as a whole.
Therefore, Sunarno said there needs to be awareness from the working class to dare to reject being subdued by power. Workers, he said, must dare to criticise oppressive policies, and prioritise the struggle for workers’ welfare.
“May Day is not just a national holiday, but a momentum for reflection on the commitment to equality, social justice, and human dignity in the workplace,” Sunarno said.
In a separate opportunity, KSPSI claimed that the presence of President Prabowo Subianto at the 2026 May Day celebrations in the Monas area will not impact the dimming of labour integrity. KSPSI President Andi Gani Nena Wea stated that he has been offered cabinet positions in the government three times.
However, those offers were always rejected as a form of commitment by the labour union to maintain the functioning of checks and balances in the government. “I am close to power, but I am also the one who sued the Omnibus Law,” Andi said at a press conference for the 2026 May Day Celebrations in the Menteng area on Wednesday, 29 April 2026.
Andi reminded that the relationship between workers and the government cannot be in a position of constant confrontation. According to him, the government and workers must synergise to create a conducive situation.
“But, we prove that when there are worker welfare issues, we are the ones who sue, we are the ones who fight. So, our labour idealism is never limited,” he said.