In Jakarta workers from the capital and surrounding areas marched to the State Palace and parliament under tight security from the police until a downpour forced them to disperse. “We are sending a message to the government that workers nationwide are joining forces to oppose its plan to revise the new labor law. We also demand the government declare May Day a national holiday,” said Rekson Silaban, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperity Labor Unions. “We are against the planned revision of the labor law because the government wants to restrict workers’ rights and create job insecurity,” Khoirul Anam, deputy president of the Indonesian Trade Union Congress, added.
The 2003 Manpower Act granted workers rights such as the right to organize and the right to strike. Proposed changes tabled in parliament in April and immediately rejected by trade unions would allow companies to hire contract-based workers and outsource permanent jobs and core businesses to other companies. It would pave the way for foreign investors to hire expatriates to occupy key positions and restrict the right to strike, eliminate service payments, weaken minimum-wage provisions by 50 percent, and give employers.
In Hamburg, anti-capitalism protests on the eve of May Day turned to violence and vandalism, police said on Thursday before afternoon rallies involving leftist groups and rightists.
May 1 is known in Germany and elsewhere as the unofficial International Workers’ Day and is marked with demonstrations and rallies that have, in some instances, turned violent.
The night before May 1, known in Germany as Walpurgisnacht, is also an occasion for mischief. This year nearly 1,000 people attended a rally in Hamburg where protests against capitalism and in support of socialism quickly escalated into scattered violence and vandalism.
Demonstrators stole materials from a nearby construction site to erect barricades on at least one city street, police said, adding that rocks were thrown at the windows of a kiosk containing ATMs. Several small fires were lit. Police responded with water cannon to extinguish the fires, and the protest ended shortly after midnight. As many as 10,000 people were expected to gather later for more rallies, including 800 registered to march in a parade for the far-right National Democratic Party. Leftist groups from across Germany were expected to mount a counter-demonstration.
In Berlin, police arrested 24 people late Wednesday night at a rowdy party in the Mauerpark, situated along the path where the Berlin Wall once stood. One police officer was slightly injured when revelers threw glass bottles and rocks, said Hansjoerg Draeger, a spokesman for Berlin police. Two cars were set ablaze.
But this year’s gathering at the Mauerpark was relatively quiet -- 120 arrests were made there last year.
“Everyone in Germany can and should use their right to demonstrate,” said Draeger, “but we’re always glad when things stay peaceful.” According to Draeger, 4,700 police were deployed throughout Berlin on Thursday to monitor any demonstrations that might arise on what looked to be a rainy May Day.
Benzer Haberler 
World
