Workers demand Prabowo's pledge to end outsourcing; Labour Ministry agrees to implement it gradually

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Workers again pressed President Prabowo Subianto to deliver on his pledge to abolish outsourcing, or alih daya, in a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker), in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday, 4 March 2026.

Suparno, president of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers’ Union (FSPMI), lamented Kemnaker as the authority under the President that has yet to realise the agenda.

“It’s clear that President Prabowo in May Day 2025 promised to abolish outsourcing. But here the stakeholders, the Minister of Labour, until today have done nothing,” Suparno told reporters on Wednesday.

In their demands, the workers called for the issue of a ministerial regulation relating to the abolition of outsourcing.

The demands were conveyed to Suparno when he met for a hearing with Deputy Minister of Labour (Wamenaker) Afriansyah Noor.

In that hearing, Afriansyah reportedly agreed to abolish outsourcing gradually. Suparno said they would be involved in revising Government Regulation No. 35 of 2021.

“Thus outsourcing can gradually be removed from our country, comrades. Because this is in line with what was stated when Mr Prabowo Subianto signed the trade agreement with Donald Trump,” Suparno said after the hearing.

Afriansyah confirmed the matter. He said they agreed to abolish outsourcing gradually until it is completely removed.

“The Ministry of Labour together with FSPMI have agreed to abolish outsourcing, but both sides will conduct studies to identify policy gaps to minimise the implementation of outsourcing,” he said.

In this demonstration, the workers also urged the DPR to draft and immediately pass a new Labour Law with a deadline of October 2026.

Additionally, the workers called for the removal of the THR tax, opposed the import of pickup trucks from India, urged the reactivation of BPJS Kesehatan participants under PBI, and passed the Domestic Worker Act.

The commitment to abolish outsourcing will be taken by the government in the formation of the National Labour Welfare Council.

Prabowo explained that the National Labour Welfare Council would serve as an adviser to the president in shaping policy directions related to labour, such as workers’ rights and protections.

“As a gift to workers today, I will soon form the National Labour Welfare Council,” said Prabowo.