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Unions, groups brave COVID-19, police threat to protest Job Creation Law
The nationwide strike was largely concentrated in the industrial areas where the workers are employed, with the workers urged to stage their protest in compliance with health protocols to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
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Workers go on strike at PT Panarub Industry in Tangerang on Oct. 6 to protest against Job Creation Law. (Antara/Fauzan)
T
he passage of the controversial omnibus bill on job creation on Monday in a House of Representatives plenary session has been met with widespread opposition from labor groups and civil society organizations, despite the risk of coronavirus transmission and the threat of a crackdown from the National Police.
The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) had said that around 2 million workers representing 32 labor unions would take part in mass rallies to express their opposition to the passage of the omnibus bill across Indonesia.
“As of today, we ask the permission [of the authorities and factory owners] for these three days to use our constitutional right [to express] our strong rejection of the passage of the job creation bill,” KSPI president Said Iqbal told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said the nationwide strike was largely concentrated in the industrial areas where the workers were employed, adding that he urged the workers to stage their protest in compliance with health protocols to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
The chairman of North Sumatra’s Federation of Indonesian Metal Worker Unions (FSPMI), Willy Agus Utomo, told the Post on Tuesday that about 2,000 workers from 40 companies in Medan, Deli Serdang, Serdang Bedagai and Labuhan Batu took to the street to protest the new law. “We will continue until Oct. 8,” he said.
“Workers certainly are afraid of COVID-19, but we are more scared of the omnibus law, which would kill workers slowly,” said one of the workers, Kamal.
Previously, the National Police chief had issued an internal circular to “counter” protests against the law by carrying out “cyber patrol” and “media management” to control the narrative. The police had also called for early intelligence gathering to detect opposition within labor groups and the general public to prevent mass protests, claiming that such events could lead to “anarchy” and “social conflicts” in regions across the country.
