Agita Sukma Listyanti, Surabaya – Protesting workers are threatening to occupy the East Java governor’s office in the provincial capital of Surabaya if their demands for a regional and municipal minimum wage (UMK) of 3 million rupiah a month are not met, saying that for workers this amount is non-negotiable.

Semarang – Hundreds for workers from the Indonesian Metal Trade Workers Federation (FSPMI) in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang have blockaded the Java northern coast (pantura) road demanding that the Central Java governor agree to a 3 million rupiah a month minimum wage for workers.

Jakarta – Former labour activist Dita Indah Sari says that a mature labour movement must strengthen its “negotiating muscles” or capacity to negotiate with individual companies rather then organise big demonstrations to achieve wage settlements.

According to a labour observer, although wages continue to rise, the real value of workers’ wages has declined so workers are being impoverished structurally.

Jakarta – Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad, Green Berets) commander Lieutenant General Gatot Nurmantyo has expressed doubts about the current course of democracy.

Yogyakarta – Freedom of association in the era of reformasi (the reform process beginning in 1998) is, as it turns out, still little more than jargon.

Wahyu Aji, Jakarta – It seems that not everybody has a negative assessment of Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi’s appeal to regional governments to foster closer ties with the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) as a partner in development.

Pito Agustin Rudiana, Sleman – A social gathering by victims of the 1965 tragedy at the Santi Dharma Retreat in Godean sub-district, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, was attacked by the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (FAKI) on Sunday October 27.

Sulistiyono, Jakarta – Labour Movement National Committee (KNGB) member Said Iqbal has confirmed that a national strike will be held in late October and will be joined by millions of workers and include, among other things, demands for the abolition of outsourcing.

Raka F Pujangga, Semarang – An Indonesian labour movement workshop at the Pandanaran Hotel in the Central Java capital of Semarang facilitated by the Trade Union Rights Centre (TURC) has been forcibly closed down by police who claim they did not have a permit for the event.

Jakarta – Thousands of workers from Jakarta and surrounding areas demonstrated demanding welfare improvements on Thursday October 17. The action created traffic jams between Jl. Jenderal Sudirman, Jl Thamrin, the Indonesia traffic circle and in the vicinity of the State Palace. Similar protest were held in West and East Java.

Ahmad Romadoni, Jakarta – The momentum of Car Free Day along the length of Jl. Sudirman-Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Sunday September 15 was used by scores of students to call for actions rejecting the planned virginity test for high-school students that have been making the rounds of late.

Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform (KMSRSK) is calling for reform to military justice to be accelerated.

Anggi Kusumadewi, Erick Tanjung – Indonesia’s newly appointed military (TNI) chief, General Moeldoko, will deploy TNI forces to maintain state security and protect investments in Indonesia. This was conveyed by Moeldoko at a ceremony to hand over command at the TNI’s headquarters in Cilangkap in Jakarta on Wednesday September 4.

Palmerah – The number of farming households over the last 10 years has declined by 5.04 million. Over the same period, the number of agribusinesses has grown by 1,475 companies. Meaning a formalisation (formalisasi) has taken place. What is alarming however is that the number of marginal farmers is increasing.

Fransisca Ria Susan, Jakarta – The kidnappings, forced disappearances and killing of more than 1 million Indonesians between 1965-1967 were not a tragedy, because they did not occur as part of a two-sided conflict.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government is being called on to ratify the International Convention on Enforced Disappearance of Persons.

Jakarta – The long fight to uncover and moreover reconcile the 1965-66 affair is slowly starting to show results. Still needed of course is hard work and a readiness on the part of several parties to uncover the truth and come to terms with the facts of the affair.

Jakarta – The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) and several other labour associations have emphatically rejected the issuance of a presidential instruction (Inpres) on limiting wage rises in order to stimulate the economy and overcome a slump in the value of the rupiah.

Zulfi Suhendra, Jakarta – A number of companies and industrial zones have been included as Indonesian National Vital Objects (OVNI) in the industrial sector and now come under government protection. This protection covers security threats against OVNIs.