Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – Fifteen protest actions will rock Jakarta today, Thursday May 15, all of which have the potential to create traffic congestion.

Ken Yunita, Jakarta – Protest actions will again colour Jakarta today, Tuesday May 13. Aside from the State Palace, the House of Representatives (DPR) building, the Vice Presidential Palace and the National Police headquarters will also be targeted by demonstrators.

The battle drum of the Indonesian people’s resistance to the planned fuel price increases has been sounded – students, the urban poor, workers, farmers and women in every corner of the country are daily holding actions that are growing and uniting day by day.

Kediri – Protest actions against the government’s planned fuel price hikes continued in a number of cities around the country. Demonstrations by housewives, pedicab drivers, vegetable vendors, the urban poor and students took place in Makassar, Kediri, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Bandung and Sukabumi on Friday May 9.

Ahmad Bayasut, Balikpapan – Despite the beads of sweat pouring down their faces, the protesters continued to enthusiastically shout “Viva Workers! Viva the Poor!”.

Neli Triana – Its 10am on Thursday May 1, and nine-year-old Nur Alfi is standing in the middle of a sea of workers at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta.

Jakarta – The minimum wage is still not enough to fulfil the daily needs of workers in the major cities of Medan, Bandung, Jakarta and Surabaya. Many workers are making up the difference by falling into debt while job security levels remain low.

Jakarta – The National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has decided to be realistic. They have chosen to postpone their desire to take part in the 2009 legislative and presidential elections. They have taken this position because of pressures that have emerged since the political party was launched in Jakarta on July 22, 2006.

Surabaya – The commemoration of International Labour Day on Thursday May 1 was marked with protest actions in several East Java cities. Workers and students also held demonstrations in Bandung, Denpasar, Palembang and Bandar Lampung.

Jakarta “belonged” to workers yesterday when tens of thousands of protesters flooded on to the main streets of the capital city to commemorate Labour Day, which is popularly known as May Day.

Several different locations in Central Jakarta were rocked by demonstrations on May 1 as tens of thousands of workers commemorated May Day or International Labour Day. Protest actions took place at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, in front of the State Palace, the House of Representatives building and Proclamation Monument.

Factory workers from the East Java Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) held a demonstration to greet International Labour Day on May 1 in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya demanding the abolition of contract labour and outsourcing.

Rofiqi Hasan, Denpasar – Hundreds of workers, students and journalists in Bali commemorated International Labour Day at the Bajra Sandhi Monument in the provincial capital of Denpasar, where they called for wage increases, the abolition of contract labour and guarantees of the freedom to associate.

Erick Priberkah Hardi, Bandung – Thousands of people from worker, farmer and student organisations inundated the Gedung Sate building complex in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung today.

Thousands of workers from various companies held protest actions at different locations in Jakarta on Wednesday April 30 in the lead up to the commemoration of International Labour Day or May Day. Even larger waves of protest actions are planned for tomorrow.

B. Josie Susilo Hardianto – The lunch boxes had only just been handed out when they began to discuss the story of Mardi – a worker in Tangerang, Banten province. He had just sent his two children back to his village. “They’ve being entrusted with Mardi’s parents so they can go to school”, said Bagus, who provides support to workers.

Basic changes in the struggle by the working class before and after reformasi represent a shift from a struggle for wages and conditions to a struggle for job security.

Khairina – The narrow lane in Rawa Terate, Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, was dirty and suffocating that afternoon. Less than half-a-meter wide, the lane was filled with housewives sitting around and gossiping, young children crying and a small herd of goats.

Through massive protest actions last year, workers throughout Indonesia united and successfully defeated efforts to enact the proposed draft revisions to Law Number 13/2003 on Labour that they believed failed to side with workers. For the majority of workers however, their struggle is far from over.

Agung Sedayu, Jakarta – The Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) plans to commemorate International Labour Day (May Day) on May 1 by holding an action at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.