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More white collar workers join Labor Day
Gaia Khairina disapproved of the perception that Labor Day is strongly associated with blue-collar workers only, saying that May Day is observed by all workers.
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No barriers: Media and creative industry workers hold a rally to commemorate Labor Day in Jakarta on Wednesday. (JP/Donny Fernando)
M
ore professionals and white-collar workers took to the streets of Jakarta for International Labor Day commemorated on Wednesday to celebrate workers’ rights and joined with thousands who voiced their demands for better benefits and equal treatment.
Some of the workers from various fields had already been in the annual march several times, while others were new to the celebration globally known as May Day.
Workers had gathered since morning to march along the thoroughfares of Jakarta with homemade and colorful posters stating their demands with each group having a special chant.
Some white-collar workers marched through Central Jakarta from the Sarinah shopping mall to the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) building.
Gaia Khairina was among hundreds of white-collar workers participating in the demonstration for the first time. Coming all the way to Jakarta from Bogor, West Java, she spent her day off voicing her aspirations about labor rights for women, hoping that they would meet with proper responses from the government and employers.
Having worked as an analyst at an oil palm and rubber plantation consulting company in Bogor for the past two years, she said the management had fulfilled normative rights for female workers such as salary, menstrual and maternity leaves. Still, the 26-year-old took part in May Day to fight for better rights for female workers as she knew some other workers were not as lucky as she was. “It’s very important to fight for that. Many women also experience job insecurity and low pay compared with their male peers,” she told The Jakarta Post during the protest on Wednesday.
She disapproved of the perception that Labor Day is strongly associated with blue-collar workers only, saying that May Day is observed by all workers.
