Rohmat, Denpasar – The commemoration of International Labour Day in Bali was commemorated by a number of different student organisations. Workers however were absent from the protest.

Iman Herdiana, Bandung – International Women’s Day (IWD) was marked by a protest action by hundreds of workers from the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) in the city of Cimahi, West Java.

Jakarta – The number of permanently employed workers in the formal sector is steadily declining and currently stands at only 35 percent of all formal workers. This has occurred in concert with Law Number 13/2003 on Labour (UU No 13/2003), which allows for the employment of contract labour from other companies, or outsourcing.

Liputan6.com, Yogyakarta – Scores of workers in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta from the Security Employees Union (SPK) and the United Indonesian Labour Movement (PPBI) demonstrated at the Yogyakarta mayor’s office on Thursday afternoon, November 25. They were demanding wage improvements.

Zely Ariane – If there was an easier way to struggle for their rights, the workers from the PT. Kanefusa Indonesia Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI) would probably have tried it.

Anung Wendyartaka – To this day there has yet to be any visible sign of a breakthrough in the improvement of workers’ standard of living. On the one hand, the basic rights possessed by the working class are still felt to be inadequate and on the other, workers themselves appear to fail to appreciate their existence.

Jakarta – Thousands of workers from various different labour organisations and alliances arrived in waves at the State Palace on Jl. Merdeka Utara to commemorate May Day on Saturday May 1.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – May Day was also commemorated by hundreds of workers in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta with demands for the abolition of contract labour, wage increases and for May 1 to be designated as a national holiday.

Rohman Taufiq, Surabaya – Students in the Central Java provincial capital of Surabaya enlivened a protest action when they joined workers commemorating May Day on Saturday May 1 in front of the State Grahadi building.

Muchus Budi R., Solo – Hundreds of workers in the Central Java city of Solo commemorated May Day by holding a cultural action and free speech forum, in which they rejected the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement and planned electricity rate hikes.

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.

Arif Ardiansyah, Jakarta – Journalists from the print and electronic media in the South Sumatra city of Palembang commemorated May Day on Saturday May 1 expressing concerns about union busting and low wages in the media industry.

Muhammad Taufik, Mojokerto – The commemoration of May Day in the East Java city of Mojokerto on Saturday May 1 was joined by around 5,000 workers from various parts of the regency who held a protest action in front of the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) and the regional government offices.

Ratih P Sudarsono, Bogor – Around 400 workers in the city of Bogor commemorated May Day by spending Saturday afternoon enjoying popular dangdut music at the Bogor Botanical Gardens.

Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – A number of labour and peasant organisations in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung commemorated May Day by holding a protest action in front of the governor’s office.

Women are not just housewives. They are not second class citizens.

The following is a compilation of abridged translations of the January 28 protest actions held around the country to commemorate the first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second administration. The reports are ordered alphabetically by city.

The North Sumatra Pro-Democracy Movement says that the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Vice President Boediono, as well as the rotten political elite, have failed to implement the mandate to end the Indonesian people’s suffering.

Judi Prasetyo, Jombang – Workers from the Independent Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI-Independen) have agreed to boycott the coming July 8 presidential elections by not using their right to vote or to golput.

Caroline Damanik, Jakarta – Labour activist Dita Indah Sari believes that presidential and vice presidential candidates Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto (JK-WIN) are the partnership that most connects with workers.