Jakarta – Hundreds of contract workers hired by bus operator Transjakarta, who are members of the Indonesian Madani Labor Union, staged a rally Monday demanding they be made permanent employees.

Union chairman Yudha Adi, one of the contract workers, said they also demanded the company eliminate the outsourcing and contract system for hiring workers. They have not received any response from the administration.

"The city administration sent an official from the public order agency to negotiate with us.... He was not able to solve our problem," Yudha said.

He said Transjakarta had more than 400 outsourced employees who had been working as cashiers and ticketing and barrier guards in the first three corridors on average for between two and four years.

"We have never received Idul Fitri bonuses because we are usually transferred to another company a few months before the (Islamic) holiday," he said.