Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The Labour Movement with the People (Gebrak) has asserted that there will be no compromise with the government or the House of Representatives (DPR) over their opposition to the Draft Omnibus Law on Job Creation (RUU Cipta Kerja).
This position was one of the principles articulated during a demonstration in front of the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday August 14.
“During this action we want to stress to the government and the DPR that there will be no compromise, cancel the Draft Omnibus Law on Job Creation now and without conditions”, National Student League for Democracy National Council (LMND-DN) General Chairperson Muhammad Arira Fitra told Kompas.com on Friday August 14.
The LMND-DN is one of the organisations involved in Gebrak. Gebrak itself is a people’s movement alliance involving several student and labour organisations including the Confederation of United Indonesian Workers (KPBI), the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance (KASBI) and the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA).
Also part of the alliance is the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Jentera Student Executive Council (BEM), the Populist Student Front (FKM) and the Progressive Students School (SEMPRO).
Fitra added that demonstrators will continue to take to the streets despite the acknowledged risk of spreading Covid-19. This determination was triggered by the DPR and the government who have obstinately continued deliberating the controversial draft law.
Fitra asserted that the Omnibus Law conflicts with the Indonesian Constitution because it contains many articles which harm society.
Gebrak is therefore urging the government and the DPR to focus instead on restoring the ordinary people’s purchasing power amid the slump in economic growth caused by the pandemic.
“Assistance of 600,000 rupiah [a month] isn’t enough to restore the ordinary people’s purchasing power, but workers need job security and social protection”, he said referring to the governments pre-employment training program.
Conversely, the Omnibus Law will most certainly trigger a drop in people’s purchasing power because the law will undermine job security and create low-paid jobs.
“We will continue to struggle with other people’s movements to stop the RUU Cipta Kerja from being passed into law”, he said. “We are inviting all people’s organisations to fight against the RUU Cipta Kerja which will impoverish people across generations and the ordinary people generally”, added Fitra.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Tak Ada Kompromi, Demonstran Minta RUU Cipta Kerja Dibatalkan”.]
