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Indonesian Labor Minister Ida Fauziyah during a group photo after handing over assistance to workers' representatives while celebrating May Day 2021 at the Center for Job Training Development of the Ministry in Bekasi City of West Java Province, on Saturday. (ANTARA/ Pradita Kurniawan Syah) - 

The Indonesian Labor Ministry extended assistance of varying forms at the commemoration of International Labor Day 2021 at the Center for Job Training Development of the ministry in Bekasi City, West Java Province.

"Happy Labor Day. I hope our workers would become more productive, competitive, and prosperous," Labor Minister Ida Fauziyah stated after handing over assistance to workers here on Saturday.

The aid comprised 18 thousand packages of basic food for workers and 85 packages of assistance for business facilities in the independent labor programs for laid-off workers, and provision of the COVID-19 vaccine to 800 workers.

"We also laud companies that have persisted and are able to make various adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic," the minister remarked.

Furthermore, the ministry has offered Eid packages to health workers and non-medical supporters working at the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, Jakarta, as a form of the government’s concern for the fighters involved in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister Fauziyah affirmed that the assistance was extended as a morale-boosting step for health workers to stay enthusiastic and continue to extend help and care for people infected with COVID-19.

"Keep up the spirit and continue to work hard in order to realize all achievements to build Indonesia. Long live all workers in Indonesia and around the world," she remarked.

Meanwhile, President of the Confederation of All Indonesian Trade Unions (KSBSI), Eli Rosita Silaban, lauded and encouraged all trade unions and laborers across Indonesia to continue to harbor a fighting spirit amid the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Happy International Labor Day. I hope we are always healthy. We do not celebrate it in a big way, but still solemnly. We will continue to assist the government in its efforts to eliminate the spread of COVID-19," she stressed.

Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Hariyadi Sukamdani emphasized that the commemoration of May Day 2021 offers the necessary momentum for economic recovery through collaboration with all parties, so that the COVID-19 pandemic can be tackled at the earliest.

"It is time to strengthen synergy between the government, employers, and workers. Currently, the employment of labor has also begun to show an increasing trend. It is expected to continue to increase and compensate for the decline that occurred at the start of the pandemic in order to prepare for further investment," she stated//ANT

A May Day 2021 rally at the Monas area, Central Jakarta. (ANTARA/Dewa Ketut Sudiarta Wiguna) - 

Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) President Said Iqbal echoed demands, including calls to revoke the Job Creation Law, especially regarding the manpower cluster, at a rally to commemorate Labor Day or May Day 2021.

"Revoke and cancel the Job Creation Law, especially concerning the labor cluster," Iqbal remarked at the Monas area here on Saturday.

The workers perceive the new regulation as being disadvantageous since they could be outsourced for life or indefinitely.

Iqbal stated that contract employees will continue to be recurring contract workers.

Furthermore, the workers' wages are low owing to the removal of the district and city sectoral minimum wages (UMSK), and so, the district and city minimum wages are generally set by governors."For instance, in Bekasi, the UMSK 2020 was recorded at 5.2 million and the figure reduced to 4.9 million in 2021, which means that the workers' wages in 2021 decreased since the UMSK was removed," he remarked.

Hence, Iqbal said the workers had demanded that the UMSK be re-enforced.At the commemoration of Labor Day, Indonesian workers held a rally in which the participants comprised representatives of the KSPI and the Confederation of All Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPSI), and the University Students' Executive Boards (BEM) from universities across Indonesia.

The KSPSI had earlier spoken of not massively deploying the masses of workers to the streets on International Labor Day on May 1, 2021, on account of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"We decided for May Day 2021 to not hold a massive mass action akin to the previous years, as we do not want to create a new cluster," KSPSI President Andi Gani Nena Wea had noted in a written statement in Jakarta, Thursday (Apr 29).

The protestors marched to the Constitutional Court (MK) building and to the State Palace to submit the May Day 2021 Petition//ANT

Process underway to retrieve bodies of landslide victims in South Tapanuli. (ANTARA/HO) - 

The National Search and Relief Agency (Basarnas) has deployed additional personnel to evacuate landslide victims around the Batang Toru hydroelectric power plant (PLTA) project site in South Tapanuli Regency of North Sumatra Province.

"Currently, 21 Basarnas personnel have partaken (in the evacuation process)," Head of the Emergency and Logistics Division of the South Tapanuli Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Hotmatua Rambe, stated here on Saturday.

The total 21 personnel comprised 10 people from Medan, seven from Toba, and four from Sibolga.

The presence of additional personnel from Basarnas bolsters the evacuation efforts also being undertaken by the army, with its 25 personnel; the police, with its 25 members; 10 BPBD officers; 10 sub-district officers; and supervisory officers of PT NSHE (North Sumatra Hydro Energy) Company; as well as officers from the Batang Toru Hydroelectric Power Plant (PLTA).

All officers, partaking in the evacuation process, will return to the site of the landslide on Saturday morning to look for other victims buried under the landslide rubble and yet untraceable."Since the first day of the search on Friday until it was stopped, the joint team managed to evacuate three victims," he remarked.

Meanwhile, PT NSHE Communication and External Affairs Director, Firman Taufick, noted in a statement received by ANTARA that two Synohidro employees -- Long Quan (WNA) and Dolan Sitompu, a local resident -- went missing in the landslides that struck Wek I of Batang Toru Sub-district.

"We hope and pray that the evacuation process conducted by the joint team on the second day of search for the victims would run smoothly," he stated.

Some 12 residents and workers of PLTA Batang Toru are suspected to have been buried in the landslides. Meanwhile, the partially damaged bodies of three deceased were found//ANT

Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani. ANTARA/HO-Indonesian House of Representatives/aa - 

House of Representatives speaker Puan Maharani ensured that the parliament had consistently fought for labor interests by pushing the government to involve labor groups in discussing regulations derived from the Job Creation Law.

These regulations include those regarding wage, work relations, and job loss insurance, as well as foreign manpower.

"It is the House's commitment to consistently fight for labor interests. We are keen to see the Indonesian economy recover and the welfare for the Indonesian labor improve," according to a press statement made by Maharani at the commemoration of International Labor Day received here, Saturday.

The politician urged employers to fulfil the rights of their employees, particularly in connection with the holiday employee benefits, popularly called THR, in line with the implemented government regulation that this year's benefit around the Eid Al-Fitr holiday be paid in full and on time.

The policy on the benefit this year is slightly different from that of last year when leeways were granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The government should conduct active surveillance to ensure that companies are paying holiday benefits to their employees," she affirmed.

Maharani is also optimistic of the economy bouncing back and of job vacancies opening up wider and for higher absorption of manpower.

The speaker admitted to being concerned after finding out that the wages and workload of several workers were reduced, and some were also dismissed and their work contract terminated owing to the difficult times faced by companies reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Happy Labor Day. I hope this year would be the year of our awakening towards a more prosperous and advanced Indonesia," she remarked//ANT