Jakarta – Workers from the Association of Indonesian Trade Unions (GSBI) rallying at the Jakarta town hall on May 1 have demanded wage increases and an end to outsourcing end exploitative apprenticeships.

Worker representatives also demanded that the Jakarta provincial government (Pemprov DKI) end forced evictions in the capital.

“Since Ahok [Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama] has been leading DKI, forced evictions in the capital have been massive. The little people, the poor in the outskirts of the city have been the principal victims of evictions”, shouted one of the speakers from GSBI, Siti.

The workers demanded that the Pemprov DKI pay more attention to the city’s poor that have not just lost their homes as a consequence of the evictions but also their livelihoods.

“The justification used for the evictions is to put the city and the drainage systems in order. But we know that this is just a pretence and excuse to evict the poor who are marginalised. They haven’t just lost their homes but also their livelihoods. Pay attention to their [plight]”, said another speaker.

After giving speeches, the workers sung songs had shouted slogans together, following which they moved off to continue the rally at the House Statue in Central Jakarta.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was “Demo di Depan Balai Kota, Buruh Tolak Penggusuran”.]

Source: http://news.liputan6.com/read/2937451/demo-di-depan-balai-kota-buruh-tolak-penggusuran.