Whisnu Pradana, Cimahi – A procession of Workers from Greater Bandung who are holding a long-march from the West Java governor's office in Bandung city to Jakarta arrived at the Cimahi city Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building on Thursday August 3.
The 200 or so workers left Bandung on Thursday afternoon and will rest for a short time in Cimahi before continuing the journey to Jakarta.
Action coordinator Asep Salim Tamim said the workers are holding the long-march to demand that the government revoke the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (Cipta Kerja) which they see as gradually undermining workers' welfare.
"Today we began the long-march to Jakarta, with the final destination being the Presidential Palace. [We're] demanding that the Omnibus Law be revoked", said Tamim when speaking to journalists.
According to Tamim, the Jobs Law will cause even more suffering for workers because it abolishes certainly on wages, job security, holidays, severance pay and working hours.
"So the Cipta Kerja Law harms and damages social conditions, primarily for workers. So Pak [Mr] Jokowi [President Joko Widodo] must revoke it (the Omnibus Law)", said Tamim.
Tamim said that he and the group of workers from Bandung estimate that they will arrive in Jakarta on August 10. They will march continuously while stopping at several points on the way to rest.
"It's estimated that we will arrive in Jakarta on the 10th (of August), following a continuous route from here to Purwakarta, Karawang and Bekasi. We may well enter some toll roads, but we'll just see how the conditions are on the way", said Tamim.
After stopping at the Cimahi DPRD offices, they will later rest and spend the night at the Padalarang DPRD offices in West Bandung regency and then continue the journey the next day.
"We'll take a break first in Padalarang. So in every region we pass trough, basically the mayors, regents and the DPRDs must understand the conditions faced by the ordinary people. Don't just lead and become party officials", said Tamim.
Tamim said that in Jakarta there are already thousands of workers from various different regions who are awaiting their arrival. They are willing to stay overnight at the protest site in Jakarta to ensure the workers' demands are followed up.
"Up until now everyone is still enthusiastic, later in Jakarta we will join up with thousands of other workers. Basically we will stay overnight until our demands are met, the Omnibus Law being revoked", said Tamim.
Thursday's procession of workers is the second group that has departed from Bandung and march to Jakarta. They earlier group also took up the same demands. (dir/dir)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Tuntut Omnibus Law Dicabut, Buruh Jalan Kaki dari Bandung ke Jakarta".]
