Semarang – Hundreds for workers from the Indonesian Metal Trade Workers Federation (FSPMI) in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang have blockaded the Java northern coast (pantura) road demanding that the Central Java governor agree to a 3 million rupiah a month minimum wage for workers.

Jakarta – Former labour activist Dita Indah Sari says that a mature labour movement must strengthen its “negotiating muscles” or capacity to negotiate with individual companies rather then organise big demonstrations to achieve wage settlements.

According to a labour observer, although wages continue to rise, the real value of workers’ wages has declined so workers are being impoverished structurally.

Jakarta – Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad, Green Berets) commander Lieutenant General Gatot Nurmantyo has expressed doubts about the current course of democracy.

Yogyakarta – Freedom of association in the era of reformasi (the reform process beginning in 1998) is, as it turns out, still little more than jargon.

Wahyu Aji, Jakarta – It seems that not everybody has a negative assessment of Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi’s appeal to regional governments to foster closer ties with the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) as a partner in development.

Pito Agustin Rudiana, Sleman – A social gathering by victims of the 1965 tragedy at the Santi Dharma Retreat in Godean sub-district, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, was attacked by the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (FAKI) on Sunday October 27.

Man: A fantasy umbrella waving in the morning sun, hey, hey who is she...

Kid: May I see your radiant face... hey, hey Bunda Putri... (from the song Payung Fantasi by Ismail Marzuk)

Sulistiyono, Jakarta – Labour Movement National Committee (KNGB) member Said Iqbal has confirmed that a national strike will be held in late October and will be joined by millions of workers and include, among other things, demands for the abolition of outsourcing.

Observers say that the arrest of Constitutional Court Chief Justice Akil Mochtar on corruption charges has severely shaken the public’s faith in the judicial system and ordinary people are starting to despair in the face of a litany of corruption and bribery cases involving every branch of power – legislative, judicial and executive.

Cat: A dynasty? What’s wrong with that if you can do it...

Man: If you can bribe people right Mr?

Raka F Pujangga, Semarang – An Indonesian labour movement workshop at the Pandanaran Hotel in the Central Java capital of Semarang facilitated by the Trade Union Rights Centre (TURC) has been forcibly closed down by police who claim they did not have a permit for the event.

Jakarta – Thousands of workers from Jakarta and surrounding areas demonstrated demanding welfare improvements on Thursday October 17. The action created traffic jams between Jl. Jenderal Sudirman, Jl Thamrin, the Indonesia traffic circle and in the vicinity of the State Palace. Similar protest were held in West and East Java.

Migrant workers: We’re always the victims. Platform reads Foreign Exchange Heroes, bubble reads Legal Protection.

President Yudhoyono: Save the MK

Kid: That’s all very well but when will we be saved Dad?

The only real surprise about Constitutional Court (MK) chief justice Akil Mochtar’s arrest on corruption charges is the political amnesia of those who have joined the chorus of condemnation against him: former MK chiefs who paved the way for graft in the court by curtailing the Judicial Commission’s oversight powers, lawmakers who extend Akil’s

The arrest of Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) chief justice Akil Mochtar on corruption charges has been described as a ‘national disgrace’ and highlighted the fact that corruption had infiltrated all levels of the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government.

Man: A comic farce! Meanwhile our legal system remains a tragedy!

Hidayat: Cheap cars! What’s wrong with the little people driving cars?

Kid: Ordinary people driving cars is a sign of prosperity right Dad?

Man: What’s wrong with the little people cycling... as long as they don’t eat dry left over rice and tempeh made from peanut residue anymore!

Man: It seems that money is more agung (grand, exalted, high, noble). Chair reads Hakim Agung (Supreme Court justice), step reads selection.