Fika Nurul Ulya, Jessi Carina, Jakarta – Ahead of National Labour Day which falls tomorrow, House of Representatives (DPR) Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad together with officials from the Presidential Palace gathered with trade union leaders during an event at the Nusantara IV Building in the parliamentary complex in Central Jakarta on Wednesday April 30.
Meanwhile the Presidential Palace officials who were seen attending were Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi and Cabinet Secretary (Seskab) Teddy Indra Wijaya.
The trade union leaders who were present were Labour Party president and president of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) Said Iqbal, the general chairperson of the Confederation of All Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPSI) Jumhur Hidayat and the president of the All Indonesia Trade Union Confederation (KSBSI) Elly Rosita Silaban.
In his greetings, Ahmad said that the DPR's task is to bridge the aspirations between workers and the government so they are united. That is why the DPR gathered workers together with government representatives today.
Moreover, the challenges ahead will be tougher. There are many domestic and global economic situations that require them to stand firm together.
"We must be united and we must be optimistic. Because at times like now we have, not because the president is from my party [the Greater Indonesia Movement Party, Gerindra], but we have a national leader who really pays attention to the aspirations of our fellow workers", said Ahmad at the event.
Ahmad also recalled when he had a discussion with trade union confederation leaders about the issue of increasing workers' wages before meeting with the President Prabowo Subianto.
At that time, the Labour Minister Yassierli was afraid because there were differences between the wage increases demanded by trade unions and the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo).
But Prabowo provided a solution. "The president said that the wages of our workers must be increased. What for? So that purchasing power increases. If purchasing power increases, our economy will move", he explained.
Meanwhile Said Iqbal explained that Prabowo plans to attend the Labour Day event at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta tomorrow.
This has been confirmed by Prasetyo Hadi. Iqbal said that around 200,000 workers from West Java, Banten province and Greater Jakarta consisting of several trade unions will attend the May Day event.
"So it is almost certain that more than 90 percent of workers will gather to celebrate May Day at the Monas Square", he explained.
There are at least six issues plus one that will be demanded including the elimination of outsourcing, the provision of decent wages, the formation of a Layoff Task Force (Satgas PHK) and the ratification of a new labour law.
"The fifth is ratifying the RUU PPRT [Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers] and the sixth is to ratify the Asset Confiscation Bill in eradicating corruption. And another is the ratification of ILO Convention Number 188 on the Protection of Fisheries Workers", he explained.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "H-1 May Day di Monas, DPR Kumpulkan Serikat Buruh dan Perwakilan Istana".]
