TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Labor Party along with Indonesia’s labor unions and associations is planning to hold a mass demonstration at Jakarta’s State Palace on Saturday, January 14, in protest against the regulation in lieu of law (Perpu) on Job Creation. The Perpu was issued by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo late last year.

Labor Party chairperson Said Iqbal announced there will be at least 10,000 workers who will join the protest.

“We will gather at Monas. Around 09:30 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) the masses will move from Monas to the Indosat headquarters [located nearby the National Monument/Monas] because we expect protestors will not be permitted to approach the Palace,” he said on Wednesday.

Protestors, he elaborated, will come from labor unions from the Greater Jakarta area and neighboring regions in West Java. Protests against the Job Creation Perpu will also be held in a myriad of other industrial regions such as Semarang, Surabaya, Batam, Medan, Gorontalo, Banda Aceh, and Makassar.

Iqbal admitted that the Party initially agreed with the substance of the Job Creation Perpu but confirmed that the Party has now taken a stand against the Perpu as they deemed its substance to be different from what they had discussed with representatives from entrepreneurs.

Aspects within the Perpu that they feel do not benefit workers and laborers are Articles overseeing minimum wage, outsourcing, severance pay, layoffs, work time, and foreign workers.

“Outsourcing is modern slavery. Why has the country legitimized it through regulation in lieu of law?” Iqbal asserted.

RIRI RAHAYU

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