No Letup in Worker Strikes over Jobs Creation Law, Trade Unions Warn in Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) chairman Said Iqbal warned that workers will continue to stage protests against the newly passed Jobs Creation Law.

“The protest to reject the omnibus law will involve a bigger number of workers and massive waves of protests,” Said Iqbal said in a written statement on Thursday, October 15.

Said added that the workers plan to submit a judicial review of the Jobs Creation Law to the Constitutional Court (MK) and request the House of Representatives and the government to review the law.

Also read: Indonesian Government to Take Firm Steps against Violence Protest on Job Law 

“We will carry out a campaign regarding the law and discuss the reasons for rejecting the Jobs Creation Law, especially the parts on labor-related matters,” he said.

Said emphasized that he would not be involved in the discussions on preparing other laws and regulations based on the Jobs Law as this was in line with the commitment of the workers to reject the law.

“Workers have rejected the Omnibus Jobs Creation Law. Thus, workers can’t accept other regulations that are related to it, let alone to discuss it,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, not all workers’ demands were accommodated in the law. He said the workers previously submitted a legal draft to counter the bill.

Also read: 7,000 Workers Stage Protest Against New Jobs Law in Jakarta’s Industrial Area 

“However, many of our suggestions were not accommodated and it was not true when the House of Representatives claimed that 80 percent of the labor proposals had been adopted in the Jobs Creation Law,” he said.

It was reported that the peak of the protest throughout the country occurred on October 8. In Jakarta, the protest turned into chaos following the decision to block the roads, which led to more clashes between the security forces and the protesters, which involved the use of tear gas.

(Writer: Haryanti Puspa Sari | Editor: Krisiandi)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/10/15/12031741/presiden-kspi-aksi-buruh-tolak-omnibus-law-akan-semakin-besar