Jakarta – Rigid labor contracts are needed to protect up to 3.7 million Indonesian domestic workers, including some two million employed overseas, who are locked up, or exposed, to forc

Bogor – Representatives of about 6,000 workers of textile producer PT Great River Indonesia staged a rally at the Bogor Council on Wednesday, demanding that councillors force the compan

Jakarta – The International Labor Organization (ILO) launched a report on Wednesday, which for the first time presents comprehensive global and regional data on forced labor and call fo

ID Nugroho, Sidoardjo – An old bicycle is parked among hundreds of motorcycles near a machinery assembling factory in East Java town of Sidoardjo.

Ridwan Max Sijabat – A labor dispute bothering a major plywood company in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan, reflects in many ways the general labor conditions in the country

Tangerang – About 500 public minivan drivers in Tangerang went on strike on Monday to protest the presence of a new public minivan route they said took away their business.

Jakarta – Lively commemorations of May Day on May 1 were celebrated in demonstrations by labour organisations, political parties and other social organisations in a number of parts of t

Jakarta – Thousands of people across the country took to the streets on Sunday to mark Labor Day with demands for better working conditions and the protection of workers' rights, as wel

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Labor unions have blamed the government for the worsening labor conditions in Indonesia, which they say are a result of a bad investment climate, the absen

Deni Mukbar/Siswanto, Jakarta – May Day was commemorated today by hundreds of workers and mass organisations from Greater Jakarta at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta.

AJI/AT, Jakarta – The commemoration of international labour day (May Day) in Jakarta today involved thousands of workers and other social organisations such as students, the urban poor,

Gunawan Mashar, Makassar – Like pelting the holy wall with stones to excise evil.

Budi Hartadi, Malang – Thousands of workers in East Java city of Malang commemorated May Day by blockading the road in front of the mayor's office on Jalan Tugu.

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – Commemorating May Day on May 1, thousands of workers inundated the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta resulting in a massive traffic jam on Jalan Sudir

Ahmad Yunus, Bandung – May Day was also commemorated by workers in the West Java provincial of Bandung.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – More than three million school-aged children in the country work in numerous sectors to help support their family.

Samarinda (East Kalimantan) – The East Kalimantan Manpower Office estimated that some 5,000 timber workers in the province would lose their jobs following the government's recent decisi

Batam (Riau) – About 650 docksiders working for two shipping companies in Batam protested outside the city council on Monday, demanding the firms pay them the meal, overtime and transpo

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – Lina's nimble hands, as if programed, were busy packing a stack of hand-rolled cigarettes, her left hand positioning a piece of paper between a wooden device for

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Labor exporters have accused Malaysian employers of fishing for cheap illegal workers from Indonesia, with Malaysian government authorities only issuing re

Jambi – Some 80 employees of financially strapped Berkah Husada Hospital been protesting this week over unpaid salaries for the past four months.

Jakarta – Indonesians must change the way they perceive domestic chores and show their maids more appreciation, activists say.

Badriah, Jakarta – Workers claim that as a group they are suffering most because of the government's decision to increase the price of fuel on March 1 which has flowed on to increases i

Jakarta – The fact that no single law exists to ensure the rights of domestic workers is endangering the rights of millions of maids across the country, activists said on Wednesday.

Batam (Riau) – Some 2,000 hotel and entertainment workers in Riau Islands province staged a protest on Wednesday in Batam, demanding that the government raise the minimum wage in the ar

Rusman, Nunukan, East Kalimantan – The Malaysia government's threat to crack down on Indonesian illegal workers has not only affected the illegals, but also Indonesian workers whose sta

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – State-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek has called on companies in tsunami-ravaged Aceh to provide lists of workers victimized in the disaster, in or

Tangerang – Tangerang District Court ruled on Tuesday that 455 dismissed workers of Kingstone Indonesia had precedence over China Trust Bank, one of the bankrupt writing equipment manuf

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government insisted on Friday it would sue Malaysian employers who refused to pay their undocumented Indonesian workers, despite calls from Malays

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A grouping representing 52 trade unions expressed disappointment about what it said was the poor performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during h

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for equal treatment before the law for Malaysian employers who failed to pay the salaries of their Indonesian workers.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Some two hundred former employees of Hotel Indonesia filed a report against the hotel's former board of directors on Tuesday, alleging that they had corrupted wo

Baradan Kuppusamy, Kuala Lumpur – Despite the devastation inflicted on South and Southeast Asia by the December 26 tsunami, the disaster has been unable to make compassion-fatigued Mala

Jakarta – Indonesian workers are unprepared for competition in regional labor markets among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, a business expert says.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Pematang Siantar – North Sumatra has long been known for its large oil palm, cocoa and rubber plantations, but they have contributed little to the local people's wel

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Employers, labor unions and the government have agreed to eliminate the high-cost economy in an endeavor to help repair the investment climate and improve

Jakarta – Airport workers in 13 cities, including Denpasar, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, have canceled their plan to strike over the government's attempt to take over the management of thei

Batam, Riau Islands – Some 5,000 workers on Batam staged another protest on Tuesday, demanding Riau Islands acting governor Ismeth Abdullah's resignation over his failure to improve wor

Rendi A.

Bandung – At least 1,000 workers and former workers from state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) held a protest on Wednesday in response to the PTDI directors' plan to sell

Palembang – Some 250 travel drivers from various cities of South Sumatra province visited Palembang Municipal Council on Thursday, to demand that city councillors revoke a bylaw that pr

Medan – Leaders of a union on Wednesday reported alleged arbitrariness by plantation company PT Tolan Tiga Indonesia to Medan councillors.

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers took part in a rally in front of City Hall on Tuesday, demanding the administration to increase the monthly minimum wage to Rp 759,953 (US$81.72) for 2005.

Ramidi, Jakarta – Around 500 members of the United Workers' Alliance held an action in front of the State Palace on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat on Tuesday December 21 to protest against w

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Puncak – State pension fund and workplace insurer PT Jamsostek vowed on Sunday to allocate part of its profit this year to improve workers' welfare in the next.

Surabaya – At least 2,742 illegal migrant workers, who were granted amnesty by the Malaysian government, arrived at Tanjung Perak Port here on Sunday from the neighboring country aboard

Bandung – West Java Governor Danny Setiawan rejected on Thursday workers' demand for a repeal of the governor's decree on the minimum wage.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Thousands of West Java factory workers, grouped under the National Workers Union (SPN), staged a five hour protest on Wednesday outside the West Java governo

Tangerang – Thousands of workers held a rally at the Banten gubernatorial office in Serang on Friday, arguing that the Rp 693,500 (about US$77) monthly minimum wage set for 2005 was bel

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – A theater performance in the city during the weekend pulls in a packed house, but this is no usual theater audience.