Jakarta – Some 1,500 workers from the country's metal industry on Thursday rally in front of the House of Representatives compound here to protest against proposed labor legislation, AFP reported.

The protesters claimed the bill will curtail their rights to strike and is unfair in areas including dismissals, wage standards and contract labor. They demanded the chance to meet legislators to convey their concerns but were only able to picket at the gates of the assembly complex.

The workers had earlier marched from a busy central Jakarta junction to the vice presidential office some 1.5 kilometers north before heading by buses to the House to the west.