The Party for Socialism and Liberation extends our full support to our comrades in the SEBUMI union federation and the entire labor and progressive movement of Indonesia as they take to the streets against the anti-worker “omnibus” law. We are inspired by the Indonesian workers and students who have courageously engaged in mass demonstrations and a national strike since the law was passed by parliament earlier this month
The Omnibus law will shred key rights of the working class. The government of President Joko Widodo, in an effort to please multinational corporations, is seeking to overturn crucial regulations related to working hours, wages, severance pay and more. It seeks to give capital an even freer hand to destroy the environment.
This is all an elaborate effort to force the working class to bear the brunt of the crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. Rather than focus on preserving life and fostering solidarity during the global emergency, capitalists are plotting major attacks on workers in an effort to jumpstart the economy and return their firms to profitability. This is just as true in the United States as it is in Indonesia, and so many other capitalist societies around the world.
SEBUMI and other people’s organizations are showing that struggle is the way forward under these dire circumstances. Huge protests, joined by students and other sectors of society in large numbers, are disrupting business as usual for the elite.
We demand that all those arrested for their participation in the struggle be released, and all related charges immediately dropped. It is the members of the security forces who engaged in brutal acts of repression who should be held accountable. We stand with SEBUMI and the Indonesian working class in their righteous struggle against the omnibus law!
