Thousands of Workers Congregated at Marsinah Memorial on May Day

TEMPO.CO, Nganjuk - Around one thousand workers from several labour associations paid a visit to M‎arsinah's Memorial in the village of Nglundo in Sukomoro District, Nganjuk, East Java on Sunday, May 1, 2016 - where thousands of workers flocked to the site on buses, trucks, private cars, and motorcycles.

The entourage of workers left together from their meeting point in Pandaan, Pasuruan Regency, to the memorial site - which is enclosed with steel gates. Once there, the workers immediately prayed together, to thank Marsinah for her struggle and their welfare.

"We will always remember Marsinah, for she never wavered in her effort to fight for workers' rights, despite her gender," said the Secretary for the East Java's  Association of Indonesian Workers (SPSI) to Tempo on Sunday, May 1, 2016.

The workers that gathered at the site commenced the event by clearing her grave site from weeds, before praying together in front and around her tombstone. They prayed to remember and thank Marsinah, who was kidnapped and killed after she led a demonstration on May 4, 1993 at her workplace, PT Catur Putera Surya, in Porong, Sidoarjo, which produces clocks.‎

As of today, her murder remains unsolved. Pilgrims continued to sprinkle flowers over her ‎grave, and the event quickly became gut-wrenching when a worker kissed Marsinah's tombstone and photo, which lies at the memorial.

According to Supriyanto, there are almost currently individual whose passion for workers' rights matches that of Marsinah's. Her colleagues said that her efforts were seriously hampered by the work of other labour figures who claimed to be on her side, but took kickbacks from the company on the side - thus undermining her struggles for equal rights, not mere lip service.

Furthermore, many companies to this date, simply fires their workers who demand their rights to be respected. "They should have listened to us first, or at least give us some heads up," said Supriyanto. He explained that this is the reason why SPSI wants to spread its' chapters beyond Nganjuk, so labourers are protected from the race towards the bottom - as local governments attempt to attract investments by leaving wages at a bare minimum.

The pilgrimage to Marsinah's Memorial attracted so many visitors that Nganjuk Police - led by Nganjuk Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Muhammad Darwis - placed hundreds of security personnel on standby, all the way from Nganjuk, Jombang and through the village pathway where Marsinah's Memorial is located, as well as factories around the area along Madiun and Sukomoro.

HARI TRI WASONO