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Unions prepare for May Day
Less than a week before the first ever May Day holiday this year, the Confederation of Indonesia Labor Unions (KSPI) is preparing for a large demonstration
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ess than a week before the first ever May Day holidaythis year, the Confederation of Indonesia Labor Unions (KSPI) is preparing fora large demonstration.
'We workers are consolidating our May Day plan. One of our demands is to raise the 2015 minimum wage by 30 percent and revise the basic living costs to number 84,' KSPI president Said Iqbal said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday evening.
The KSPI also demanded the removal of the outsourcing system and a pay rise for contract teachers' salaries.
In his speech in a youth community hall in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, Iqbal also called on the government to protect domestic and migrant workers. He also asked that the government stop the common practice of companies withholding workers' salaries.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared last year that starting in 2014 May 1 would be a national holiday, Labor Day.
Iqbal said the national holiday was not a gift from the government but rather a result of workers' struggle.
'Giving us a day off on May Day is not enough, that's why we have to be well prepared this May Day,' KSPI secretary-general Sahat Butar Butar said.
KSPI has said that the confederation would hold a May Day Fiesta on May 1 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, which was expected to attract 120,000 workers.
