Wahyu Setiawan Nugroho, Yogyakarta – At least three different groups of demonstrators joined the commemoration of International Labour Day in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, which was centred along the Malioboro shopping district and the zero kilometre point at the central post office.
The three groups used the march through Malioboro to the zero kilometre point to convey their demands. The scores of protesters at the three actions arrived almost at the same time, only around 15-20 minutes apart.
The first group which arrived came from the 2019 May Day Action Committee – an alliance of several trade unions including the National Labour Union – which held a parade using a car and dozens of motorcycles.
Their action began at the Abu Bakar Ali parking area north of Malioboro and stopped off in front of the Gedung Agung State Palace.
Meanwhile the second group of protesters came from the People’s Alliance for May One (Arus) who held a long march through Jl Malioboro then stopped in front of the Gedung Agung to give speeches.
Arus is an alliance made up of the United People’s Struggle (KPR), the Code River Bank High School Students (P3S), the Plantation Workers Trade Union (Serbuk), the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), the People’s Democratic Party (PRD), the All Indonesia Trade Union (SBSI) and the Joint Labour Secretariat (Sekber).
The third group was demonstrators calling for justice for disabled workers. This group was dominated by an alliance of Yogyakarta student groups from the Gajah Mada University (UGM) and the Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMY).
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Sepanjang Malioboro, Ada Tiga Massa Aksi di Peringatan Hari Buruh di Yogyakarta”.]
