Arif Ardiansyah, Jakarta – Journalists from the print and electronic media in the South Sumatra city of Palembang commemorated May Day on Saturday May 1 expressing concerns about union busting and low wages in the media industry.

“There are still many journalists being paid less than the minimum wage, the phenomena and trend of mass dismissal of mass media workers is increasing and becoming a concern in and of itself,” said action coordinator Retno Palupi from the South Sumatra Reporters Forum (FPSS).

The FPSS is therefore calling for journalist’s wages to be increased in line with the cost of living, an end to dismissals in any shape or form, the abolition of contract labour systems and outsourcing and the provision of social welfare and healthcare.

The action was supported by a number of media organisations including the Palembang Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Association of Indonesian Television Journalists (IJTI), the Indonesian Multimedia Journalists Union (Perwami) and the South Jakarta Journalists.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]