M

anpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar says he has asked the President to make May 1 a national holiday to honor Indonesian workers and their contribution to the economy.

“The government appreciated the commemoration of Labor Day earlier this month, when workers voiced their demands, including a request to declare May 1 a national holiday,” Muhaimin said.

It would be better to make May 1 a holiday, as workers were likely to take to the streets that day, regardless of whether it was a national holiday, he added.

The minister said he would coordinate with Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar to issue a joint ministerial decree to make May Day the nation’s 15th official holiday after receiving approval from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Many nations, including Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Sweden observe May 1 as a holiday to honor workers.

The US and Canada observe Labor Day on first Monday of every September, while Australia leaves Labor Day observance in the hands of individual federal states.

The representative of one local union voiced support for the Minister’s plan.

The chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI), Mudhofir, said observing May Day as public holiday would boost workers’ bargaining power in negotiations with employers and the government.

The secretary-general of the Indonesian Workers Organization (OPSI), Timbul Siregar, however, disagreed.

“Muhaimin has made too many promises in the past few months in an apparent move to repair his image and to win the people’s hearts on the eve of the 2014 general election. So far, nothing has happened,” he said.

Among the minister’s unfulfilled promises, according to Timbul, were pledges to establish a tripartite committee to improve employer compliance with labor law, to review the minimum wage system and to build labor hospitals and apartments in industrial areas in Bekasi, West Java; Medan, North Sumatra; Surabaya, East Java; and Tangerang, Banten.

Separately, the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) said it would oppose the move as the nation had enough national holidays.

“The government should consider employers’ objections,” Apindo deputy chief Hasanuddin Rahmat said.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Rieke Diyah Pitaloka said that the party has long supported the holiday.