Ita Lismawati F. Malau, Tudji Martudji – Labour groups from various parts of East Java descended on the provincial capital of Surabaya on Thursday May 1 and gathered at the Grahadi State Building (the governor’s office) to commemorate International Labour Day or May Day.

Agita Sukma Listyanti, Surabaya – Protesting workers are threatening to occupy the East Java governor’s office in the provincial capital of Surabaya if their demands for a regional and municipal minimum wage (UMK) of 3 million rupiah a month are not met, saying that for workers this amount is non-negotiable.

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.

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.

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.

Sherr Rinn – Between 2010-12 there was an awakening of the Indonesian labour movement that can be seen in the writings of people such as Danial Indrakusuma, Rahmat, Tarikh, Hidayah and Rekomendasi.

Timika – Thousands of workers employed in the PT Freeport Indonesia mining concession area in Mimika regency, West Papua, commemorated May Day by observing a moment of silence and reading out the Workers Oath at their respective workplaces.

Imam Santoso, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from Jakarta and the nearby cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Karawang, Purwakarta, Serang and Cilegon are gathering at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta to commemorate International Labour Day Wednesday.

[The following is a joint statement by the Yogyakarta Working People’s Association-Political Organisation Congress (KPO-PRP), the Politics of the People (PR) and the People’s Liberation Party (PPR).]

Jakarta – Workers from the Joint Labour Secretariat (Sekber Buruh) have agreed to hold a national strike on October 3. They are demanding the abolition of outsourcing and contract labour systems, which they insist harms the working class.

Today, May 1, coinciding with the commemoration of International Labour Day, the Greater Jakarta Joint Labour Secretariat (Sekber Buruh) again took to the streets. This was done as a protest and as our responsibility to convince the majority of people that this beloved country is still living in misery.

Denpasar – Scores of workers in the Balinese provincial capital of Denpasar from the Unity for a People’s Independent Nation (Perkasa) demanded that the Bali provincial government immediately form an independent labour supervisory committee.

Baban Gandapurnama, Bandung – Thousands of workers and other groups, which took to the streets to commemorate International Labour Day or May Day at the Gedung Sate governor’s office in the West Java Provincial capital of Bandung, voiced almost identical demands.

Angling Adhitya Purbaya, Semarang – Commemorating May Day, thousands of workers from the Workers Challenge Movement (Gerbang) held a protest action at the Central Java governors’ office on Jl. Pahlawan in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang.

Jakarta – As many as 100,000 workers from an alliance of trade unions held May Day action in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday May 1 demanding welfare for the working class.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Thousands of students and workers in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta commemorated International Labour Day or May Day on Tuesday May 1.

Although during his 2009 election campaign President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to uphold human rights, the reality over the two years of his administration indicates a different reality. Human rights violations continue to occur and are disregard by the state.

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport McMoran Cooper and Gold – of which 90.64 percent of the shares are owned by Freeport CEO James R. Moffet – is the largest mining company in the world. Freeport contributes 95 percent of the entire production of gold by Freeport McMoran and a significant percentage of its copper production.

We fully support the strike by PT Freeport Indonesia workers for better wages and conditions. The government must guarantee legal protection to the workers and protect them against intimidation and threats while they are on strike and conducting negotiations with the company in accordance with Law Number 13/2003 on Labour.

Dira Derby, Jakarta – A clash broke out between workers and police at the rear entrance to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday when police refused to allow protesting from the Indonesian People’s Opposition Front (FORI) from entering the airport.