Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – Labour organisations have already started socialising May Day, which is due to fall on May 1, by protesting at the Gedung Sate building complex in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung.

“This call is not just for the working class, but also middle- and lower-class people who are oppressed, we are making use of the momentum of struggle”, said Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) coordinator Raya Hidayat in Bandung on Thursday April 17.

Hidayat said that the socialisation campaign will be continued by distributing leaflets at factories encouraging workers to take to the streets on May 1. The economic situation, he explained, is worsening with the jump in the price of basic commodities (sembako) bringing suffering to ordinary people.

The momentum of May Day, said Hidayat, is perfect for uniting the movement to resist oppression. According to Hidayat, the problems that are occurring at present are because many government policies favour foreign interests. “We are being colonised by foreign capitalists”, he said.

During the protest action, the workers formed up into ranks taking up one-third of Jl. Diponegoro, the road in front of the Gedung Sate building. They intentionally lined with their backs turned to the governor’s office and the Regional House of Representatives building to demonstrate their distrust in the people’s representatives.

KASBI was protesting the people’s representatives because they believe that politicians only struggle for their individual interests and the interests of their parties.

[Translated by James Balowski.]