Jakarta, IO – The flags of the confederation and labor unions were flying around the Horse Statue monument, Central Jakarta, Monday (1/5). These flags were carried by tens of thousands of workers who came from various regions to commemorate the 2023 International Labor Day (May Day).
Since 10 am WIB, their numbers continued to grow. Banners reading “Revoke the Omnibus/Job Creation Law,” “Oppose the Health bill,” “Pass the Domestic Workers Protection bill” were some of the key demands.
Not only carrying large banners, posters telling anecdotes about workers’ predicament were also displayed by the workers. One of them was from the Media and Creative Industries Workers’ Union for Democracy (SINDIKASI) who marched from the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) office to Horse Statue.
The unions consisted of journalists and creative industry workers. SINDIKASI field coordinator Julia Rachma said Labor Day was a inflection point and momentum to review the government’s commitment and performance in protecting workers. According to her, legal products issued by the government in the past years have actually weaken the position of creative industry workers.