lNDONESIA - October 08, 2020

REVOLUTIONARY ACTION DAYS

A brutal attack by the government on workers' conquests. The workers respond with a proletarian uprising at the level of the attack by the capitalists: general strikes, factory takeovers, clashes with the police and the siege of the presidential palace Long live the struggle of Indonesian workers and students! In Indonesia, on Monday, October 5, a law was approved that seeks to sweep away all the labor rights of workers and future generations, within the framework of a country that faces an economic crisis leading to a GDP estimated contraction between 0.6 and 1.7%. The labor law was approved in the Parliament last Monday by seven parties in the House of Representatives, while the other two rejected it, and its members left the plenary session. The execution of this law would have serious consequences on the labor system, foreign investments and even the environment and the management of natural resources. This law modifies 79 previous laws, including the Labor Law, the Land Management Law and the Environmental Management Law. This omnibus law was applauded by the imperialists and the bourgeoisie, with the main stock index rising to 1.31%. In addition, Citibank was keen to communicate its satisfaction regarding this new law that would further facilitate foreign investments. The workers and students have put themselves on a war standing with three days of general strikes starting on Tuesday, to respond to this attack by the government, since they affirm that the law will curtail labor rights, as it establishes, for example, the reduction of the minimum wage, and attacks severance pay, and also introduces a new unemployment fund (JKP), which means that the government will bear part of the cost of the company when they lay off their workers. Under the law, the employers could pay a maximum of 19 times the monthly salary, and the government will pay six times more the monthly salary through the JKP scheme. The law establishes the increased use of outsourcing and the conversion of monthly wages into hourly wages. It also eliminates the compulsory paid leave for childbirth and increases the limits on overtime work. A brutal attack on the conquests of the workers and a deep labor flexibility. With these legislative reforms, President Joko Widodo wants to attract more investment in the vast nation of the archipelago, with a population of 270 million people, deepening the looting of the nation and a further flexiblization of  the huge reserve of labor that this country, the fourth most populous in the world, possesses. Thus, the bourgeoisie offers its workers to the capitalists and imperialism, with miserable wages, to redouble the plunder and super-exploitation of the nation. The Indonesian Confederation of Trade Unions, known as KSPI and which brings together 32 unions, estimated at 2 million the workers participating in mass demonstrations and strikes starting Tuesday in different urban centers of the country, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Tangerang and Bekasi, where the large factories are located, and many cities on the islands of Sumatra and Sulawesi. Thousands of workers from factories in Karawang, in West Java, and Serang, in Banten province, also protested in front of their factories. The workers went on a general strike and thousands of students joined the protests, since they know that this law threatens their future. For this reason, what is currently happening in Indonesia are revolutionary action days, a true proletarian surge, where the industrial proletariat enters the scene and rises on a war footing, from the most concentrated of its battalions, to fight back with the fighting methods of the working class: factory seizures, pickets, violent confrontations and clashes with the capitalists' watchdogs and a general strike that has already lasted 3 days. The workers from the most important manufacturing centers of the country are responding with  decisive combats, at the level of the attack of the capitalists. On Tuesday in the city of Bandung, capital of the province of West Java, workers and students blocked the streets leading to the local parliament building and the city hall, where clashes with riot police broke out. Clashes between protesters and police took place on Wednesday near the presidential palace in Jakarta as police tried to disperse the protest with tear gas and water cannons. The results of these days were 300 protesters arrested, in addition to 2 students seriously injured. On Thursday again in Jakarta, hundreds of workers and students tried to break into the presidential palace, heavily guarded by the police. Clashes, as in cities such as Yogkarta, Medan, Makassa, Manado and Bandung occurred again. In the latter city, the capital of West Java, there were more than 200 arrests. The unions say they will not leave the streets until this law is repealed.  Open the path to the workers' and youth councils! Forward to revolution! The workers' struggle must overcome! To tear down the labor reform ... let the regime fall! Out with imperialism from Indonesia and the whole Southeast Asia!