Jakarta – The Indonesian Employers Association (Apkindo) warned Friday of business closures and massive layoffs following the 55 percent increase in gas prices imposed last month by sta

Workers at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s Grasberg mine in Indonesia threatened to return to strike as tensions grow following the dismissal of three union members this month

Indonesia has resumed sending maids to work in Malaysia three years after a ban was enforced because of numerous abuse cases, but fewer than a third of them had arrived, according to a

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Labor unions have protested at what they call "cosmetic changes" to a ministerial decree on decent living standards, as the minor revisions will not lead t

Agustiyanti, Surabaya – Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar on Thursday called on regional governments to help return 10,000 child workers across the country to schoo

Jakarta – Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar says Indonesia is imposing a moratorium on the travel of Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and

Jakarta – The government has paid a total of Rp 2.8 billion (US$303,753) in subsidies over the past five months for 8,100 informal workers to take part in social security programs at st

Dessy Sagita & Fitri – Workers used nationwide rallies marking Labor Day on Tuesday to call on the government to push for a full investigation into the recent shooting deaths of thr

Jakarta – The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) says that the number of unemployed Indonesians increases by 1.3 million every year due to the gap between available job

Police in the East Timorese capital Dili fired warning shots and arrested 84 people to disperse some 500 May Day protesters calling for higher wages on Tuesday, police and a witness sai

Dewi Kurniawati – After spending 18 years as a staunch labor activist, including three years in prison, Dita Indah Sari shocked many in 2010 when she decided to join the Manpower and Tr

Bagus BT Saragih and Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Despite the potential for a substantial loss of tax income, the government says it will implement a policy to exempt workers with a

Faisal Maliki Baskoro & Bayu Marhaenjati – A recent ruling in favor of workers in a labor dispute is expected to boost Tuesday's planned massive May Day rallies as police and milita

Rizky Amelia – Malaysian police have brutally shot Indonesian citizens at least three times in recent years, a nongovernmental group said over the weekend.

Jakarta – One of the country's largest Islamic groups says non-Muslim countries treat Indonesia's migrant workers better than countries such as Malaysia, where three workers are suspect

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Batam – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to inaugurate ten low-cost apartment developments that are expected to provide affordable rooms to thousands

The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers has called for a thorough investigation into the shooting deaths of three workers in Malaysia, calling

Jakarta – The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry announced that it was ready to provide housing subsidies for 1,500 workers throughout Indonesia.

Jakarta – Thousands of workers at a garment factory in Tangerang went on strike to demand a Rp 200,000 increase in monthly wages.

Arientha Primanita – Despite holding a special meeting on Monday to prepare for massive rallies on May Day in Bogor, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono publicly tried to play down the p

Indonesia's parliament ratified on Thursday a UN convention on the protection of migrant workers in a move that will offer greater rights to millions of Indonesians working abroad.

The Indonesian government should keep up the momentum by moving quickly to revise Law 39 to comply with the protections in the Migrant Workers Convention.

Agus Maryono, Purbalingga – Over 10,000 employees in Purbalingga, Central Java, mostly of companies operated by foreign employers producing artificial eyelashes, have not yet received t

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Indonesia is still facing high rates of time-related underemployment despite a continued decline in unemployment, indicating failures in the government's

Bagus BT Saragih, Hong Kong – About 40 people claiming to be Indonesian workers staged a protest near the Shangri-La hotel in Hong Kong where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was stay

Agus Triyono – A national rights group plans to summon the management of Metro TV after a former reporter alleged on Friday that she was fired for trying to set up a union.

Palembang – Around 2,000 employees of PT Willmar International Plantation (PT WIP), which operates in Lempuing Jaya district, Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) regency, have staged rallies for t

Ismira Lutfia – More than 200 Indonesian citizens are currently facing the death penalty or other heavy sentences overseas, government officials said on Thursday.

Ainur Rohmah, Semarang – The Central Java provincial administration has been urged not to rush into re-sending workers abroad following the revocation of the moratorium on migrant worke

Surabaya – The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry says that the Manpower Law must be revised to protect Indonesian workers overseas.

Rangga D.

Batam – Around 1,000 employees of PT Sanmina-SCI Batam went on strike on Thursday, demanding housing allowances, wage increases and an explanation over the employment of expatriates dee

Ulma Haryanto – Despite the recent victories for labor rights, the ballooning number of labor organizations in the country and their susceptibility to being politicized are worrying act

Anita Rachman – As they commemorated their day on Wednesday, Indonesian domestic workers said they only wanted two things: for the domestic workers protection bill to be deliberated thi

Dozens of housemaids staged a protest at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, demanding the government to pass a bill on the profession.

Index: ASA 21/005/2012

Ismira Lutfia – Indonesia is aiming to reduce the number of child workers by 10,000 this year, an official said on Tuesday.

Bayu Marhaenjati & Dofa Fasila – The Jakarta administration may have approved the highest sectoral minimum wages ever, but hundreds of workers rallied with the Jakarta Labor Forum t

Andreas D.

Anita Rachman – Yuliana can't remember the last time she had a proper sit-down meal during her lunch break at the North Jakarta garment factory where she works.

Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Labor issues including disputes over minimum wages are not the main issue affecting Indonesian businesses, with political instability, poor governance an

Batam – Hundreds of workers at PT Varta Microbattery Indonesia (VMI) in Batam, Riau Islands, went on strike on Wednesday.

Timika, Papua – Unidentified gunmen have attacked a group of workers near Freeport-McMoRan's gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia, wounding several of them.

Hasyim Widhiarto – Since the reform era began in 1998, the union movement has been primarily driven by activists who were unemployed or had no affiliations to employers.

January's labor unrest that culminated in the paralyzing of economic activities in the industrial estates of Bekasi, West Java, took many by surprise as it marked the awakening of the l

Hasyim Widhiarto and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The string of workers' rallies that has severely disturbed businesses recently, particularly in the industrial estates of Bekasi in We

Agus Triyono – The Central Jakarta District Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by domestic workers' rights activists against the government for failing to protect the country's maids

Agus Triyono – The burden of making facilitation payments and paying bribes to government institutions is one reason businesses might have trouble paying higher minimum wages, according

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Japanese and South Korean emissaries along with a representative of the Taiwan administration have filed complaints to the Indonesian government over its han

Angela Dewan – For years big-name manufacturers including Honda, Samsung and Nike have quietly harvested profits from factories in Indonesia, where wages are even lower than in China or