Workers joint students' protest at University of Indonesia
Workers joint students' protest at University of Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): A group of workers joined a student
demonstration on Sunday at the University of Indonesia campus in
Depok, West Java, as a way of expressing their wish not to be
left behind by the students.
"We are asking that we are not left out in the (student)
struggle for reform. We want to take part in the current
movement, too," said Prambudi, one of the workers.
"Basically, we all have the same goal, namely a democratic
Indonesia. We feel that many students have forgotten us, so we
want to express our shared commitment again," he said.
The gathering, which started at 10 a.m., was attended by seven
groups: the Labor Committee for Reform Action (Kobar), the
Marhaen Labor Committee, the Big Family of the University of
Indonesia, the Student and People's Committee for Democracy,
Students Care for People (Ampera), the Student Family of
University of Islam Jakarta and the Proreform People's Movement.
The 800 workers and students sang songs, staged orations and
waved banners which read, among other things, We Want Wage Raise,
Price Down, STOP Repression and ABRI (Armed Forces) Go Away.
"Many of the workers were stranded and failed to get here
because they were blocked by security forces at four points in
Cakung, East Jakarta, Kapuk, North Jakarta, and Tangerang and
Kalideres, West Jakarta," Kobar's Mai Roma said.
The gathering was also highlighted by the reading of a letter
from student activist Dita Indah Sari, who is imprisoned in
Tangerang Penitentiary for leading a labor protest in July 1996.
"This is the right moment for workers to stand up and fight
for their rights. I never doubted you and I still believe in you
(workers), now," she said.
The crowd dispersed at 3 p.m.
"This is just a warming-up session. We want to continue our
movement because we think that the government under (President)
Habibie has not done anything to better labor conditions,"
Ampera's Alfan Ridha said.
Separately, the Student Action Front for Reforms and Democracy
held a solemn prayer meeting in Jakarta for victims of the Nov.
13 incident at the Semanggi cloverleaf, which claimed 16 lives.
The students showed a documentary of the incident and released
names of victims, according to their version. (edt)