JAKARTA ~

Indonesian workers said that the national strike they plan to hold, which will be participated in by various workers’ organizations, will prove their strength, according to an activist.

“The workers’ organizations that will take part in the national strike include the All Indonesian Prosperous Workers Confederation (KSBSI), the Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPI), the All Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI), and the National Workers Union (SPN),” President of KSBSI Mudhofir stated here on Wednesday.

He added that workers took to streets to demand that Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla hold true to the promises they made with regard to improving the prosperity of laborers.

Mudhofir acknowledged that Wednesday’s rally was only a warm up for the national strike to be held by all Indonesian workers.

Through the strike, they will prove that workers are one of the primary factors that boost the economic growth of a country.

“We will prove to the government that workers are strong. They will realize the seriousness of the impact our national strike will have,” he remarked.

The KSBSI president further noted that his side will continue to oppose the government’s policy because it was not pro people.

“We will tell the government that we will reject the minimum wages set. We do not reject investors, but we want the welfare of workers in Indonesia to be given attention,” he pointed out.

Workers held a rally in several parts of Indonesia on Wednesday, demanding an increase in their minimum wages and a revocation of the government’s decision to hike fuel oil prices, among others.

Moreover, the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) claimed it has won the support of the legislature’s Commission IX on manpower affairs to reject the subsidized fuel price hikes.

KPSI said in a press statement recently that it gained the support of Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR) after workers attended a hearing on Wednesday with legislators.

At the hearing, House Commission IX vowed to help assist workers in their struggle.

On the occasion, the workers who gathered in front of the parliamentary complex were met with Chairman of Commission IX Dede Yusuf and six other commission members.

Commission IX member Noor Yasin of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) took the opportunity to make orations in front of the workers, wherein he stated that his side was also fighting for the same cause and asking for the prices of subsidized fuels to be lowered.

“We are all in the same boat. Like workers, we are also rejecting the subsidized fuel price hikes,” Yasin affirmed.

Commission IX member Susi Marleny Bachsin also delivered speeches and expressed his commitment to fight for the rights of women.

“I will fight for the aspirations of female workers,” he declared.

Furthermore, the KSPI threatened to launch a mass protest if the government failed to address the workers’ demand for a pay hike and rally against the increase in the prices of subsidized fuel oils.

President of KSPI Said Iqbal predicted that 5 million people will be involved in the protest by the end of 2014.

“The protest will culminate when all workers, students, farmers, fishermen and other economically depressed people from 34 provinces launch a national strike,” Iqbal cautioned here on Wednesday.