August 28, Tens Of Thousands Of Workers Geruduk DPR And Istana Demand An Increase In Wages Of 10.5 Percent

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Tens of thousands of workers from various regions in Indonesia will hold a simultaneous national action on Thursday, August 28, 2025. They demand an increase in wages, the elimination of outsourcing, and voice the issue of the DPR's striking salary.

The President of KSPI who is also the President of the Labor Party, Said Iqbal, said this action would take place in front of the DPR RI Building and the Jakarta Presidential Palace.

"No less than 10,000 workers from Karawang, Bekasi, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and DKI Jakarta will move to the center of the capital city," he said online, Wednesday, August 20.

Apart from Jakarta, similar actions will also take place simultaneously in big industrial cities such as Serang, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Banda Aceh, Batam, Bandar Lampung, Banjarmasin, Pontianak, Samarinda, Makassar, Gorontalo, and various other areas.

In the action, workers brought a number of main demands. First, rejecting low wages by demanding an increase in the national minimum wage by 8.5 10.5 percent in 2026. This calculation refers to the decision of the Constitutional Court No. 168 which uses inflation formulas, economic growth, and certain indexes.

"Inflation from October 2024 to September 2025 is projected at 3.26 percent, while economic growth is 5.1'5.2 percent. Thus, the appropriate increase is at 8.5'10.5 percent," said Said Iqbal.

Second, continued Said Iqbal, removing outsourcing practices that are considered increasingly detrimental to workers. The Constitutional Court's decision emphasized that outsourcing should only be done in certain types of jobs. However, in the field, this practice is still widespread, including in SOEs.

"Ecore work should not be outsourced. Outsourcing is only for supporting work, for example security. Therefore, workers demand that the government revoke PP No. 35 of 2021 which legalizes outsourcing widely," he said.

DPR Living Luxury, Cheap Wage Workers

In addition to the two main demands, workers also highlighted the income gap between members of the DPR and the small people. Said Iqbal revealed that the salaries of DPR members and home allowances reached Rp. 154 million per month or more than Rp. 3 million per day.

"Compared with contract workers in Jakarta who only receive Rp. 5 million per month or Rp. 150,000 per day. In fact, informal workers such as ojol average only Rp. 600,000 per month, meaning Rp. 20,000 per day. Far from being enough to live properly," he said.

According to Iqbal, this condition injures people's sense of justice. "The five-year work DPR can retire for life. Meanwhile, workers are easily laid off without social security, and live with low wages. This injustice hurts people's hearts," he said.