Jakarta. Thousands of Indonesian workers from various unions took to the streets in Central Jakarta on Monday to voice opposition to the practice of subcontracting work which is becoming increasingly common in the country.

The May Day rally was centered at City Hall and the landmark Arjuna Wijaya statue on Jalan Thamrin, with the organizers claiming at least 50,000 workers got involved.

"Outsourcing is like modern slavery while low wages cause structured and systematic poverty," Labor Party Chairman Said Iqbal said during the rally.

Higher minimum wages and opposition to outsourcing are among the demands the workers voiced during the May Day protests.

They also urged the government to drop the health bill for allegedly disfavoring the working class, reverse the Job Creation Law, and revoke the threshold for parliamentary and presidential elections.

The country’s election laws require political parties to get at least 4 percent of popular votes to gain a seat in the House of Representatives and 20 percent of House seats for parties or a coalition of parties to nominate a presidential candidate.

Iqbal said the health bill “fails to firmly guarantee the right of women to maternity and menstrual leaves”.

He alleged that the Job Creation Law puts many workers on a non-permanent basis with low severance pay and makes it easy for employers to lay off workers, adding that poor working conditions have caused fatigue and deaths among workers.

Iqbal told the crowd to vote for a pro-worker candidate during the 2024 presidential election.

The May Day rallies were held simultaneously in many cities throughout Indonesia carrying the same demands, he claimed. 

Add as a preferred source on Google +