T

housands of workers across the nation staged rallies Friday to commemorate International Labor Day, also known as May Day, rejecting outsourcing and contract-based working systems.

Almost all government officials refused to meet the demonstrators. East Java Governor Soekarwo and his deputy Syaifullah Yusuf were the only officials to received representatives of the workers, but could do nothing to help them.

"We can facilitate meetings between workers, employers and related offices. But we have no right to be involved in companies' private matters," Soekarwo told the workers' representatives.

Outside's the governor's office, thousands of employees from various companies in Surabaya, Sidoarjo and neighboring areas grouped together as the Alliance of Labor Rights Defenders (ABM), shouted their demands, urging the administration to help them in their disputes with their employers.

"It is urgent for us *workers* to find fair solutions to all industrial disputes as thus far workers are always treated unfairly," ABM East Java chapter chairman Jamaludin said in the rally, which was guarded by hundreds of police officers.

Jamaludin said the ABM had recorded the dismissals of more than 16,000 workers in East Java over the past four months; many without receiving the severance pay they are entitled to by law.

Airing similar demands, hundreds of workers and students marked May Day by blockading the main north coastal road in Cirebon, West Java, causing a 2-kilometer-long traffic jam.

The blockade of the road, which connects Jakarta and other cities in West, Central and East Java, started at about 9 p.m. and lasted almost two hours, as protesters burned used tires.

"Indonesian workers are still marginalized and underpaid. The application of the contract-based system means employers dismiss their employees easily," chairman of the Cirebon chapter of the ABM Yoyon Suharyono said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of workers from diverse companies, including retail giant Carrefour, marched from Plaza Ambarukmo to the Yogyakarta Monument to commemorate May Day.

Besides denouncing outsourcing and the contract-based system, the demonstrators, under the banner of the Working People's Union (PRP) demanded companies provide overtime payment.

"Many employees work more than eight hours a day, but they do not receive overtime payment," Yudi Fajar, coordinator of the rally said.

In Makassar, workers, activists and journalists from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) commemorated May Day by holding a peaceful rally in front of the South Sulawesi Governor's office, urging the administration improve the welfare of workers.

They demanded the government declare May 1 a national holiday.