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.