The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry assured protesting contract workers from Jakarta city agencies on Monday it would discuss their demand to be appointed as permanent employees. 

“We appreciate their aspirations. As a follow up, we will invite the Jakarta Employment Agency [to discuss this issue], maybe next week,” the ministry’s spokesperson Herman Suriatman said.

“We cannot make any decision without supporting data and comprehensive mapping. We will evaluate [this matter] thoroughly,” Herman said as quoted by kompas.com, arguing that aspects like the city’s fiscal burden and officials’ workload should be taken into account when deciding whether to permanently hire the workers.

Hundreds of contract employees of the Jakarta Transportation Agency and the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) staged a demonstration near the ministry in South Jakarta on Monday. The coordinator of the protest, Heri, said 1,620 Satpol PP officers and 180 workers of the Transportation Agency had not been appointed as permanent employees.

Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat had previously proposed the appointment of the workers as civil servants through proposal letter No. 595/082.71 to the ministry. However, the ministry rejected the proposal and extended the workers’ contracts instead. (vny)