TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Labor Party President Said Iqbal said hundreds of thousands of workers are affected by mass layoff, based on the data from the R&D of the Labor Party and the Indonesian Trade Unions Confederation (KSPI) over the last three months.

"To be precise, 127,000 workers have been laid off in the textile industry," Said told journalists at a protest location in Jakarta today, Wednesday, July 3, 2024.

According to him, the data released by the Ministry of Manpower greatly differs from the data obtained by his side. The ministry released that only 27,000 textile workers were laid off.

Hence, the Labor Party protest held today demanded the government revoke Ministerial Regulation No. 8 of 2004 on import policies and regulations. Said Iqbal also urged the government to revoke the Director General of Land Transportation Regulation that allows foreign business platforms to form courier and logistics service business units.

The Labor Party had expected mass layoff to affect around 20,000 workers in the courier and logistics service industry, Said Iqbal said.

Today's protest, he went on, was intended to remind the government and President Joko Widodo or Jokowi to protect domestic industry, particularly the textile, courier and logistics, steel, and other sectors with a decline in turnover. Some companies in these industries have even gone out of business. "Consequently, there’s a mass layoff happening,” he said.

According to Said Iqbal, the economic growth the government paraded around recently was an “economic crowded paradox”, meaning the economy is growing but layoffs occur in some industries. "This indicates only certain industrial sectors enjoy (the benefits) of government policies, such as coal, palm oil and other commodities," he said.

IKHSAN RELIUBUN

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