Jakarta – Hundreds of workers from the 1001 United Trade Union Alliance held a demonstration in the vicinity of the Horse Statue in Central Jakarta on Thursday September 22. The workers arrived at the Horse statue after holding a long-march from Puncak Pass in Bogor, West Java.
"Praise be to Allah, we from the 1001 United Trade Union Alliance have fulfilled our pledge to walk from Puncak Pass in Bogor on September 20. We walked for three days", said one of the speakers upon arriving at the Horse statue.
The protesters arrived at the locating at around 5 pm having marched from the direction of Jalan MH Thamrin towards Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat.
The workers who took part in the long-march from Bogor came from various different groups and organisations and brought paraphernalia to articulate their opposition.
This time round, the protesters, who were dominated by workers from West Java, brought four demands. The first demand was opposing the recent fuel (BBM) price hike.
"Second, stabilising the rising price of basic commodities because the increases are unreasonable. Third, unconditionally revoking the Omnibus Law by issuing a Perppu [regulation in lieu of law] or [abolishing] the cluster of labour [related stipulations] under the law", said 1001 United Trade Union Alliance Coordinator Ajat Sudrajat.
"Forth, we are asking for an end to revisions to the RUU KUHP [Draft Criminal Code] which is currently being debated by the DPR [House of Representatives] because it absolutely does not care about trade unions and the community", he continued.
Earlier, on Saturday September 3 at 1.30 pm, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced an increase in the price of subsidised Pertalite, Solar (diesel) and Pertamax petrol.
The price of Pertalite, which was initially sold at 7,650 rupiah per litre rose to 10.000 rupiah per litre, Solar rose from 5,150 rupiah per litre to 6,800 per litre and Pertamax rose from 12.500 per litre to 14,500 rupiah per litre.
The government's decision to increase fuel prices has received a negative response from the public with demonstrations breaking out in several cities in Indonesia challenging the decision. (frl/isn)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Long March dari Puncak Pass, Buruh Demo Kenaikan BBM di Patung Kuda".]
