About 1,000 Indonesian workers have stormed the parliament building in a protest against a draft labor law which they said favors employers.

Police fired water cannon as the protestors began shaking the main gate of the sprawling parliament complex on Tuesday. The steel gate, which was newly re-erected after it was brought down by demonstrators demanding the imposition of Islamic law last month, finally collapsed. The workers entered the compound but were prevented from moving further by a police barricade.

The laborers, many working at garment and footwear factories, said the draft law allowed employers to arbitrarily fire them and impose unfair conditions. "The draft law justifies sinister acts by capital owners" including short-period employment, they said in a statement They accused legislators of being paid by employers to pass the bill.