Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JAKARTA5580
2006-05-03 11:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

UNIONS BESIEGE PARLIAMENT (AGAIN),PROTEST TURNS

Tags:  ELAB ECON EINV PGOV PHUM KJUS ASEC ID 
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VZCZCXRO2262
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #5580/01 1231139
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031139Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3630
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 9381
RHMFIUU/USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7342
RUEKJCS/DOD WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 005580 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND DRL/IL
DEPT ALSO FOR DS/IP/EAP AND DS/DSS/ITA
DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON EINV PGOV PHUM KJUS ASEC ID
SUBJECT: UNIONS BESIEGE PARLIAMENT (AGAIN),PROTEST TURNS
UGLY

REF: A. JAKARTA 5486 - MAY DAY PROTESTS AGAINST REFORMS


B. JAKARTA 4465 - GROWING WORKER PROTESTS

C. JAKARTA 3563 - INVESTMENT CLIMATE PACKAGE

D. JAKARTA 1645 - AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES LABOR REFORM

Summary
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 005580

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND DRL/IL
DEPT ALSO FOR DS/IP/EAP AND DS/DSS/ITA
DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ECON EINV PGOV PHUM KJUS ASEC ID
SUBJECT: UNIONS BESIEGE PARLIAMENT (AGAIN),PROTEST TURNS
UGLY

REF: A. JAKARTA 5486 - MAY DAY PROTESTS AGAINST REFORMS


B. JAKARTA 4465 - GROWING WORKER PROTESTS

C. JAKARTA 3563 - INVESTMENT CLIMATE PACKAGE

D. JAKARTA 1645 - AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES LABOR REFORM

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Tens of thousands of union-led demonstrators
besieged the gates of the Indonesian Parliament (DPR) on
March 3 to force Parliament to agree to refuse any amendment
to the Manpower Act. The demonstration, with an estimated
turnout of 50,000, turned tense in the afternoon as labor
leaders failed to emerge from the Parliament building with
any agreement. Police eventually used water cannons, tear
gas, and anti-unit personnel to disperse the crowd in the
late afternoon. There were no immediate reports of serious
injuries. President Yudhoyono, scheduled to return to
Jakarta from a Middle East tour May 4, issued a statement
calling for all parties to stand down. Vice President Jusuf
Kalla read out a statement condemning the anarchy of today's
protest and speculating that politically-motivated
provocateurs had helped to spark the confrontation. End
Summary.

Largest Union Body Targets DPR
--------------


2. (SBU) Following massive, but peaceful labor
demonstrations in Jakarta on May 1 (ref a),Indonesia's
largest labor umbrella group, the All-Indonesia Trade Union
Confederation (SPSI),took its latest turn on May 3 to
protest again the Yudhoyono administration's intention to
revise a fundamental labor law, the 2003 Manpower Act. The
revisions, intended to improve the investment climate, would
introduce greater labor market flexibility, including
reducing mandatory severance pay to levels in line with
regional norms and allowing greater flexibility for use of
contract labor. SPSI did not take part May 1, in part
because of May Day's socialist connotations among other

factors. SPSI, which generated the large April 5
demonstrations that caused Yudhoyono to scuttle immediate
plans to introduce amendments to the Manpower Act, focused
the May 3 protest on the DPR. The May 1 protests had
succeeded in obtaining written commitments to oppose any
revisions to the Manpower Act from the parliamentary
committee charged with labor affairs. SPSI leaders sought a
more formal commitment from the DPR as a whole.


3. (SBU) SPSI protestors arrived near the DPR in bus and
truck convoys during the morning hours of May 3. Local media
ran accounts of SPSI members "sweeping" factories to force
workers to participate in the protest. The SPSI-led
demonstration grew in size during the morning, reaching, by
some estimates, 50,000 mid-day. Crowds and buses stretched
for kilometers along access roads leading to the Parliament
complex. By early afternoon, the front line demonstrators
attempted unsuccessfully to force their way into the DPR
complex, damaging the main gates. At approximately 1300,
police released tear gas and fired water cannons at the
crowd.

Forcing DPR's Hand
--------------


4. (SBU) Not satisfied with supportive statements from DPR
members, ten labor representatives entered the the
legislature to negotiate with senior leaders a formal
document committing the DPR to refuse any amendments.
According to a senior union official on the scene, DPR
leaders would not endorse the document without the agreement
of DPR chairman Agung Laksono, who remained absent.
(Comment: Agung at the time was with the Ambassador on a
visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln. End Comment.)

Police Use Tear Gas to Disperse Demonstrators
--------------


5. (SBU) With no word from inside the DPR, demonstrators

JAKARTA 00005580 002 OF 002


became restless and advanced again on the main gate. At that
point, police fired multiple volleys of tear gas, and
organized anti-riot personnel with shields to forcibly
disperse the demonstration. By 1600 police had split the
protestors, and the demonstration before the DPR had
dispersed by 1700. There were some reports of protestors
vandalizing public and private property as they moved away
from the DPR. Police reportedly arrested a small number of
demonstrators.

SPSI Leaders - Mission Accomplished
--------------


6. (U) By 1800, union leaders finally emerged with a
document signed by two DPR deputy chairmen, pledging the
DPR's opposition to the amendments. SPSI official Hikayat
Atika Karwa told reporters, "We thank the DPR for agreeing to
our request. However, if the government still forces the
revision (of the law) and the DPR discusses this, we will
take actions that shake the government, such as a national
strike."

Yudhoyono Promises to Review Labor System
--------------


7. (U) President Yudhoyono, speaking to reporters May 3 in
Jordan, called on all parties to pause, and not continue the
protests and heated rhetoric over the issue of the labor law.
Yudhoyono stated that the government would review the entire
labor system and its legal framework, looking not only at the
Manpower Act. Yudhoyono is to return to Jakarta from Jordan
on May 4.

Kalla: Political Actors behind the Violence
--------------


8. (SBU) Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who has minded the
store during Yudhoyono's Middle East tour, read out a
statement to reporters late in the afternoon May 3. Kalla
expressed concern over the anarchy that had taken place at
the DPR and stated his belief that workers did not desire
such lawlessness. He drew a comparison between the peaceful
protests on May 1 and the violence of May 3, concluding that
the SPSI demonstration had been infiltrated by
politically-motivated provocateurs. (Comment: Senior SPSI
leaders have links to the opposition Indonesian Democratic
Party-Struggle of former President Megawati, as well as to
various factions of the Golkar party, not all supportive of
Golkar chairman Kalla. Some senior union leaders have
focused their ire on Kalla, whom they see as the major
proponent behind the amendments due in part to his background
as a businessman. End Comment.)

Rival Union Leader: SPSI Went Too Far
--------------


9. (SBU) We spoke with the leader of a rival union
confederation, which had participated in the May 1 rallies.
He commented that SPSI had gone too far in its actions at the
DPR with its attempt to force another DPR agreement, beyond
that already achieved two days before. This opposing union
leader endorsed VP Kalla's view, stating that outside actors
had financed SPSI to mobilize so many demonstrators; SPSI
itself is cash-strapped and could not have funded so many
buses.

Comment
--------------


10. (SBU) Organized labor flexed its muscle again in the
capital. Whereas the May 1 demonstrations appeared a success
for organized labor, the coming days will tell if the ugly
scene that SPSI created at the Parliament will reduce public
sympathy or political support for the unions' demands.
Successful mob action to force the hand of the elected
legislature would be a negative step for Indonesian
democracy.
PASCOE