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Indonesia police use water cannon and teargas to disperse labour law protests Indonesian police arrest hundreds during protests against labour law
(1 day later)
A three-day national strike against the ‘omnibus’ job creation bill begins with clashes in Javan cities of Serang and Bandung Water cannon and teargas used on demonstrators opposed to weakening of workers’ rights
Indonesian police have used water cannon and teargas to disperse protesters rallying against a new jobs law in two cities on the island of Java, and arrested 23 people, according to a police spokesman and media reports. Hundreds of protesters have been detained after heated demonstrations swept across Indonesia in response to a law that weakens environmental protections and workers’ rights.
Thousands of workers and students had protested peacefully across the archipelago on Tuesday at the start of a three-day national strike against president Joko Widodo’s “omnibus” job creation bill, which was passed into law on Monday. Labour unions have vowed to continue their protests until the government cancels the law, despite police warning that the demonstrations violate measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Elshinta radio posted a video on its official Twitter account showing police late in the evening using water cannon against hundreds of protesters in the city of Serang in Banten province, about 70km (43.5 miles) to the west of Jakarta. Clashes between police and protesters began on Tuesday night and continued throughout Wednesday, with teargas and water cannon used to break up demonstrations. Six protesters were reportedly in a critical condition in hospital.
Other posts on social media also appeared to show water cannon being used on students in Serang. One legal aid group said nine detained protesters including a 16-year-old were beaten by police and told to drink from the same water bottle, despite the risk of Covid transmission. Police did not respond to a request for comment.
Banten police spokesman, Edy Sumardi Priadinata, said via text message that the situation was under control by 9:15 pm local time on Tuesday and that two police officers had been injured by rocks thrown at them, but did not respond to further queries. In the Javanese city of Semarang, protesters tore down the fence of the local parliament complex. In Bandung, groups set fire to tyres and threw rocks and petrol bombs at police. Thousands attempted to reach the Bandung parliament building but roads had been blocked.
On Wednesday morning, Edy Sumardi said that 14 demonstrators had been arrested during the protests. The law passed on Monday makes sweeping changes to workers’ entitlements and environmental regulation. The government says it will make Indonesia more attractive to investors. However, a draft version of the bill removed key protections such as mandatory paid leave for childbirth, increased limits on work overtime and cut severance pay. It also relaxed hurdles that were designed to protect the environment.
In Bandung, the capital of West Java province, police used tear gas against protesters who hurled rocks and fire crackers and damaged a police car, according to news website Detik.com. A spokesperson for the National Union Confederation (KSN) said: “We are going to die because of the coronavirus or die because of the system. We don’t know how we will die. But we still can change the system. So we are going to march until we win.”
Another police spokesman, Erdi Adrimulan Chaniago, said a further nine had been arrested in the city of Bandung. He said authorities would monitor factories and university campuses in case of further demonstrations. Unions said at least 2 million workers had turned out for the protests, while Reuters and Associated Press reported that thousands attended. Students unions said they would join on Thursday.
There was no significant demonstration in Jakarta. Police blocked workers from protesting in front of the national parliament, citing the need to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Demonstrations took place in at least 12 places on Wednesday, according to Reuters, with police detaining 183 people in South Sumatra and holding more than 200 protesters in the capital, Jakarta.
Critics of the omnibus law, which revises more than 70 existing laws to accelerate reform of south-east Asia’s largest economy, say it is too pro-business with its removal of labour protections and relaxation of environmental rules. Indonesia Legal Aid (LBH) said police arrested nine protesters in Bandung, including a 16-year-old. “They were beaten, half stripped naked and forced to drink from one bottle. Some injured,” said Lasma Natalia, the chair of LBH Bandung, in West Java province. The LBH’s lawyer team was lobbying the police to release the protesters.
Government officials say the law relaxes rigid labour rules and streamlines environmental rules in order to improve the investment climate and create jobs. A group of religious leaders have set up an online petition to reject the law, which has gained 1.3 million signatures. Roy Murtadho, who began the petition, said community groups had signed in support because they feared the impact of the law on the environment.
Indonesian markets cheered the passage of the bill, with the main stock index up as much as 1.31% and the rupiah also gaining. lifting 1.28%, before paring some gains. “A group of women who are defending a small island in Sulawesi from the government sand mining project said to me that they are passionate to sign the law. They feel related to the issue and thinking that the situation is going to get worse if the Omnibus Law is applied,” he said.
The government’s investment board said it would lead to better welfare for workers by facilitating more foreign investment. Zainal Arifin, a law expert and lecturer in the University of Gadjah Mada, called on civil society to contest the law through legal channels. “Social disobedience and filing the judicial review in constitutional court – both have to be done together, not separate,” he said.
Citibank, in a research note, said the law simplifies business licensing and addresses restrictive trade and labour policies, but added that immediate foreign investment was unlikely in the currently depressed global economic climate. The national police did not respond to a request for comment.
Trimegah Securities economist, Fakhrul Fulvian, said banks and export-oriented industries should benefit from the law, while consumer and retail sectors may be pressured as workers may increase savings to compensate for changes in labour rules.
However, many Indonesians criticised the law on Twitter, with one trending hashtag incorporating an expletive against parliament and another calling lawmakers traitors.