Home Mobilization Trade Unions reject election results in lead up to May Day
Bookmark and Share
Mobilization
Trade Unions reject election results in lead up to May Day PDF
Written by KPRM-PRD   
There are no translations available.

Okezone - April 27, 2009

Depok -- In the lead up to the commemoration of
International Labour Day or May Day, the Workers
Challenge Alliance (ABM) and the Greater Jakarta
Railway Workers Trade Union (SPKAJ) are planning
massive actions in Jakarta on May 1.

As part of the preparations for May Day, the groups
held a protest action at the University of Indonesia
(UI) train station in front of the university this
afternoon.
Aside from collecting donations from sympathisers,
they also called for the main agenda item for May
Day to be rejecting the results of the April 9
legislative elections. In order to attract support
from UI students, they gave speeches and handed out
hundreds of May Day leaflets with calls to reject
the election results.

According to the workers, the recent elections were
not a people’s election, were fraudulent and are
illegitimate. The grounds for the workers’ rejection
of the elections is because the ‘festival of
democracy’ failed to give birth to an elite or
assembly members who side with the interests of
workers -- for example who have the courage to
abolish contract labour systems (outsourcing) which
is extremely harmful to workers.

The action was also marred by an argument between
demonstrators and a UI security guard who tried to
stop the demonstration because they did not have
permission from the rectorate. Nawawi -- the UI
security guard -- said that they should have
submitted a request for written permission with the
rectorate two week before the demonstration. After
negotiations however, they were finally allowed to
hold speeches for half-an-hour or so.

The protesters chose UI as a site for the
demonstration because students are the most critical
in responding to the corruption and dishonesty that
is occurring in the nation and the state.
Unfortunately, it appeared as if the UI students
were unconcerned about the labour movement and many
leaflets that had been distributed were simply
thrown away.

Action coordinator Surya Ginting meanwhile said that
in addition to rejecting the 2009 elections, workers
would be articulating four demands. First, calling a
national industry and agrarian reform that is strong
and self-sufficient. Second, the nationalisation of
industry under the control of the ordinary people.
Third, refusing to pay the foreign debt by selling
off the country’s assets. And forth, the eradication
of corruption and the seizure of corruptors’ assets.

There was also a speech by a former Hotel Indonesia
employee who related how after the hotel’s assets
were sold off, the situation for his family became
miserable. [Okezone.com]

[Translated by James Balowski.]