Angling Adhitya Purbaya, Semarang – Commemorating May Day, thousands of workers from the Workers Challenge Movement (Gerbang) held a protest action at the Central Java governors’ office on Jl. Pahlawan in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang.

Jakarta – As many as 100,000 workers from an alliance of trade unions held May Day action in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday May 1 demanding welfare for the working class.

Taufan Mustafa, Banda Aceh – A demonstration commemorating International Labour Day in the Achenese provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Tuesday May 1 began with a convoy from the Raya Baiturrahman Mosque to the Aceh governor’s office.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Thousands of students and workers in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta commemorated International Labour Day or May Day on Tuesday May 1.

PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport McMoran Cooper and Gold – of which 90.64 percent of the shares are owned by Freeport CEO James R. Moffet – is the largest mining company in the world. Freeport contributes 95 percent of the entire production of gold by Freeport McMoran and a significant percentage of its copper production.

Jakarta – The People’s Liberation Party (PPR) reports that a person was shot dead by security forces during a clash with thousands of PT Freeport Indonesia employees at the Gorong-Gorong bus terminal in Timika, West Papua, on the morning of Monday October 10.

We fully support the strike by PT Freeport Indonesia workers for better wages and conditions. The government must guarantee legal protection to the workers and protect them against intimidation and threats while they are on strike and conducting negotiations with the company in accordance with Law Number 13/2003 on Labour.

Kid: Because of poverty our housewives are willing to become slaves and be abused in other countries Dad!

Man: They’re also abused by the Cleptocractic State of the Republic of Indonesia! (a play on the acronym NKRI – Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia)

Yohan Wahyu – If we look at the still sidelined state of workers and employees, the need to unite and organise oneself should be a big one. The historical facts in Indonesia however show the reverse, with political parties claiming to be based among workers not in fact “selling well” in the eyes of the voting public.

Laurencius Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Even though its occupants are in recess, the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Central Jakarta was the target of around 150 protesters commemorating Labour Day.