Max Lane – From two different May Day events in Jakarta, divergent approaches in negotiating workers' aims and rights in Indonesia can be discerned.
A long visible division within the Indonesian labour movement manifested in its starkest form on 1 May 2025 in Jakarta. The character of this division can be described as that between alignment with the state and opposition to it. This is reflected in how one May Day event was organised as if it were an official state event while another had an oppositional protest character.
The first was held at the National Monument (Monas), the site of state ceremonies, while the other was held outside the national parliamentary (DPR) building, where the final demonstration that unseated Suharto in 1998 occurred. The event at Monas was facilitated by an alliance of four trade unions: the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPI); All-Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSPSI); the All-Indonesian Trade Union Confederation (KSBSI) and the All-Indonesian Trade Union Confederation – Renewal (KSPSI-Pembaruan).
President Prabowo Subianto was the featured speaker at the Monas event. On stage with him were People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Ahmad Muzani, DPR Speaker and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Puan Maharani, and DPR Deputy Speaker from Prabowo's Gerindra, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad. Armed Forces Commander General Agus Subiyanto and National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo were also present. The most prominent labour figure onstage was Said Iqbal, President of KSPI and of the Labour Party (Partai Buruh, PB).
The main oppositional event was organised by the Labour Movement with the People (GEBRAK), a coalition of 35 critical civil society groups including trade unions. The largest trade union in GEBRAK is the Indonesian Trade Union Congress Alliance Confederation (KASBI). Apart from the two large events, there were smaller actions organised by other trade unions in Jakarta and other cities. The total membership of these unions and groups is considerably smaller than that of the PB-related unions but they have a much more frequent record of activist mobilisation.
This division is reflected inside PB, where there exists a caucus called the National Political Committee (Kompolnas), which is sometimes critical of the Said Iqbal leadership, especially over his support for Prabowo. The trade unions that support PB include the Confederation of United Indonesian Workers (KPBI), a significant member of GEBRAK, whose central leader is Ilham Syah. Ilhan Syah is a central figure in Kompolnas. He was a member of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) in the 1990s, when it was the most militant of the opposition forces. Many of the more oppositional trade unions were started 20 years ago by others who were then in the PRD or other anti-Suharto groups.
These political differences between the 'Iqbal PB' stream and GEBRAK were reflected in two ways on May Day. First, the Iqbal PB stream and politically allied unions clearly decided to make the event state-oriented to express confidence in the government. Iqbal claimed that 95 per cent of all workers supported President Prabowo, while Prabowo made a point of saying he would work to deliver their demands, although caveating that workers should be "realistic" and not expect anything that would drive away investors. Employers in Indonesia have long opposed demands for wage increases, demands for the repeal of the Job Creation Law, and an end to labour hire (outsourcing).
Both the Iqbal stream and GEBRAK demanded the end of outsourcing, higher wage increases, and the reduction of unemployment and repeal of all 'anti-worker' elements of the Job Creation (Omnibus) Law. GEBRAK's list, however, included demands for the repeal of the Law on the Armed Forces (UU TNI), the subject of recent civil society protests. In a summary of its demands, titled Capitalism, Oligarchy and Militarism are the Enemies of the Working Class!, it called for "Repeal (of) the TNI Law; Refuse (Tolak) the Military's Entry into Campuses, Factories and Villages; Refuse the Military in Interfering in Civil Affairs; Return the Military to Barracks".
As Gerindra, Prabowo's party, has never raised concerns about these issues in Parliament before, Prabowo's caveat reinforced scepticism, with KASBI later questioning whether these promises were "nothing but spin." Further saying that "all the union movement agrees" (with him), Prabowo promised to make the Suharto-era labour figure, Marsinah, who was tortured and murdered, a national hero.
GEBRAK and similar groups position themselves as oppositional, expressing no confidence in the government. Notably, the list of demands presented to Prabowo at Monas and those contained in a statement issued by GEBRAK, while having some overlap, had quite different political characters.
The PB and other aligned organisations will continue their strategy of taking labour issues to court, seeking electoral representation, and lobbying the government with which they are now aligned. Prabowo has announced the government will establish a Labour Welfare Council comprising union leaders to advise him on labour affairs, which would facilitate such lobbying. On 14 May, these unions organised a seminar to discuss inputs into the drafting of a new labour law as part of this plan.
The critical civil society forces, except for KPBI (which is working through PB), have adopted a more oppositional strategy using protest mobilisations as part of a civil society movement. They have not decisively opted to start a political party, at least in terms of formulating a formal position, although it is clearly being discussed informally.
There may eventually be at least two parties in Indonesia aiming to politically mobilise labour and critical civil society. The PB will certainly continue to seek support heading towards the 2029 elections. If unions and civil society groups unconnected to PB decide to form another party, their different political characters will sharpen the contradictions between strategies of alignment with state power and those of opposition.
[Max Lane is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He has been an academic at the University of Sydney, Victoria University (Melbourne), Murdoch University and the National University of Singapore and has lectured at universities in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States.]
Source: https://fulcrum.sg/will-contradictions-within-the-indonesian-labour-movement-sharpen