Labor Union Justifies Efforts To Make Demonstrations Reject The Job Creation Law

The FSPMI crowd headed for the demonstration location through the Wadas Pesisir Utara road, Tangerang Regency to avoid road blocking (Istimewa)

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Central Executive Board of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Unions (FSPMI) Riden Hatam Aziz confirmed the statement of the Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Foundation (YLBHI) Asfinawati about embarking on an action against the Omnibus Law on Job Creation.

Riden explained that the police officers did this by blocking the road through which the group of workers headed to Jakarta, to be precise, to the Arjuna Wiwaha Horse Statue, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta.

"The police officers were blocking it like that. Like for example, from Serang you couldn't go to Jakarta, then the one in Tangerang was immediately blocked off (the road, red). So you have used PHH, if I'm not mistaken, the equipment is like a robot," said Riden when contacted. VOI, Thursday, August 22.

In addition to deploying troops in full uniform, the police are said to have lowered water cannons and barracuda vehicles to isolate the crowd.

"So it means that the pattern of the police, he does not want large crowds to come to Jakarta," he said.

As for the protesters who managed to get to the demonstration site, said Riden, because they used their own vehicles such as motorbikes. So it is different from the fate of the workers who departed together using buses or other transportation, they could arrive and follow the action which ended peacefully around 17.30 WIB earlier.

"Earlier, those who passed to the horse statue were those who passed the path of rats. So only 10 people, using 10 motorbikes, 20 motorbikes, right? That is also wearing ordinary clothes, not wearing uniforms. Because if you wear a uniform, it is immediately insulated," he said.

Meanwhile, other masses, such as the workers' mass that he mentioned earlier in Tangerang and Bitung Jaya, with a total of about 400 people, could not reach the demonstration site because they were asked to return by the police. "We don't want chaos. We also don't want to clash with the police, so we chose to avoid it," he said.

According to him, the pattern of embezzlement by blocking the roads that the group of workers will pass, has occurred since the Plenary Meeting of the Ratification of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation. This ultimately made them unable to come to the DPR RI to convey their aspirations.

"That's why no one escaped to Jakarta on October 5. Even if someone escaped from Depok because he took the train from Depok, from Bogor but until the DPR, he was immediately transported by a detention car. So that was his passing," he explained.

Apart from embossing with road restrictions, another action embodiment is by calling the personnel where workers work after they have granted permission. According to Riden, most of these personnel were briefed by the police to tell workers not to take to the streets to convey their aspirations because currently there is a COVID-19 pandemic.

"So you say that those who take part must be tested for swab, rapid. The point is he doesn't want any mass," he said.

The general chairman of the Congress of the Indonesian Trade Union Alliance (KASBI), Nining Elitos, also acknowledged that the workers were planning to carry out an action. He said, indeed, there have been attempts to prevent workers from being in one just now and this has always happened repeatedly since the rejection of the Omnibus Law on Cipta Kerja was carried out in September 2019.

"People have not even taken action at the station, at the pedestrian bridge there was a search, swipping. They were even arrested before the action. KASBI members themselves experienced that," he said.

Seeing the embodiment, Nining assessed that currently there has been a democratic setback for the people who criticize the government.

"The last two years there has been a decline in the democratic space for the people when they criticize various regulations that are increasingly detrimental to the people and nation of Indonesia," he said.

Previously, the Chairperson of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Asfinawati said, YLBHI had received many reports of disobedience to the movement against the Job Creation Law. This is what keeps many workers and students from participating in demonstrations in various regions in Indonesia.

"I get a lot of input, complaints from all over Indonesia that our strength is actually bigger than this. But where are they? They were stopped in industrial areas, their rental cars were asked not to continue their journey, students were revoked their scholarships, students were intimidated both through education office, through parents, lecturers, teachers, "said Asfinawati in her oration, during a demonstration against the Job Creation Law in Jakarta, Thursday, October 22.

Asfin assessed that the government had used state tools to restrain the power of the people who continued to move against the controversial law. Therefore, he asked all the protesters in the Arjuna Wiwaha Horse Statue Area or anywhere else to look after each other.

"Take care of your friends with cellphones, videotape every intimidation by the apparatus, video and spread every violence committed by the apparatus," he said.

"Only with that can we protect our fellow friends. Only then can we spread the anger of the Indonesian rulers to the rest of the world and other social movements," Asfinawati added.