Agung DH – Commemorations of May Day or International Labour Day on Tuesday May 1 in the North Sumatran city of Medan were enlivened by entertainment centred at the Youth Arena on Jl. Sutomo Ujung Medan.
All of the workers who attended the activities received a packet of sembako (basic goods) made up of rice, sugar, cooking oil and instant noodles.
After speeches were given, the activities continued with joint singing attended by Medan City Mayor Dzulmi Eldin, Medan municipal police chief Senior Commissioner Dadang Hartanto, Dandim 0201 district military commander Infantry Colonel Bambang Herqutanto and Belawan municipal police chief Assistance Superintendent Ikhwan Lubis.
Medan City Labour Day organising committee chairperson Antoni Pasaribu said that up until now the commemoration of Labour Day has been realised by protest actions and marches through the city’s major streets.
After holding discussions with relevant parties however, Pasaribu said that they would no longer commemorate May Day with protest actions but relaxed activities at which they could convey their wishes.
During the activity, labour representatives also presented a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) containing a number of hopes for improving workers’ welfare.
These included the hope that local governments and related institutions would supervise contract labour systems that violate regulations and that the government would abolish outsourcing which fails to provide security for workers.
“Because outsourcing is a central [government] policy, so we are pushing for regional [governments] to abolish it”, said Pasaribu.
Medan City deputy mayor Dzulmi Eldin said that that they support and want to play a role in the commemoration of May Day and would agree to the MoU as joint commitment to maintaining favourable labour relations in Medan.
He added that the Medan municipal government would endeavour to facilitate workers’ wishes.
[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski. The original title of the report was Hari Buruh 2018: Peserta Aksi di Medan Terima Paket Sembako.]
Source: https://tirto.id/hari-buruh-2018-peserta-aksi-di-medan-terima-paket-sembako-cJGg
