Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – Commemorating May Day today, thousands of students, workers and social organisations held a long-march through the main streets of the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan on Saturday May 1.

Prior to the march, during which they held speeches and handed out leaflets and statements, the protesters gathered at the Jl. Jamin Ginting and Jl. Iskandar Muda Medan intersection. They then moved off to the Jl. Juanda and Jl. Monginsidi traffic circle where they held a sit-down action in the middle of the road. The resulting traffic jam forced police to redirect traffic.

In speeches, the demonstrators urged the government to designate May 1 as a national holiday and opposed the use of contract labour. Protester Johan Pahlawan said that outsourcing, which is being practiced by almost all companies in Indonesia, is evidence that the government does not side with the ordinary people. “To this day, labour regulations have yet to side with the people” said Pahlawan.

Makassar workers

May day was also commemorated in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar where at least a thousand workers from the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) and several other organisations including the Makassar Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Committee to Protect the Poor  (KPRM) gathered at the Urip Sumoharjo flyover.

Throughout the action, the KASBI protesters shouted “Replace the Regime-Replace the System”. According to KASBI South Sulawesi action coordinator Muchtar, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono (SBY-Boediono) is a neoliberal lackey and has failed to bring prosperity to the people.

“The SBY-Boediono regime is a government that bends over in submission to the interests of capitalism, the evidence being low wages implemented through the joint ministerial decree and the country’s natural resources that are sold off to foreigners,” said Muchtar.

AJI Makassar chairperson Mardiana Rusli meanwhile said that May Day should be used to promote the standardisation of a decent wage and social security for journalists. “Many media industries are still allergic to having trade unions in their companies, they apply outsourcing systems and arbitrarily sack their contributors”, said Rusli. (djo/djo)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]