JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesian workers protested in the capital Jakarta yesterday demanding better wages nationwide and free health care as the economy in Southeast Asia’s biggest nation booms.
More than 10,000 workers rallied outside the presidential palace and parliament as some 23,000 police and military personnel secured the city and Jakarta’s industrial outskirts, police said.
“If the government doesn’t listen to our requests, there will likely be another long strike,” Indonesian Workers Union Confederation chief Said Iqbal shouted to thousands rallying at the capital’s central roundabout.
Earlier this year, days-long mass strikes blocked major toll roads and crippled production at large international brand factories.
Indonesian workers are increasingly demanding higher wages and better conditions as Indonesia’s economy rapidly grows, expanding 6.5 percent last year and forecast to stay above six percent for the next two years.
Workers in Jakarta this week won a 44 percent minimum wage increase to 2.2m rupiah ($228) a month, which comes into effect next year, up from last year’s annual hike to 1.53m rupiah.
But protestors in the capital demanded similar hikes across the archipelago.
AFP
