Labor Groups Plan Separate demonstrations in Late August 2025
Jakarta, Indonesia – August 23, 2025 – Multiple labor and student groups are planning demonstrations in late August 2025, though coordination appears lacking, with differing dates and focuses.
Initial reports indicated a exhibition planned for August 25, 2025. However, the Labor Party has announced it will hold its demonstration on August 28, 2025, not August 25th. According to Labor Party spokesperson Said, “Tens of thousands of laborers from various regions will demonstrate in front of the House of Representatives and the Presidential Palace.”
The Labor Party’s demonstration, titled “Eliminate Outsourcing and Reject Cheap Wages,” will also extend to industrial areas in Serang, Banten, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and Makassar.Said explained the action aims to pressure the government to better support the working class, addressing low wages and adherence to Constitutional Court decision 168 regarding inflation and economic growth.
Said further stated the demonstration will highlight the disparity between parliament members’ Rp 50 million monthly housing allowance and the Rp 5 million earned by many workers, calling it “a clear picture of the wealth gap in this country.”
Separately,Pasha Fazillah Afap,Media coordinator of the Alliance of the Executive Body of Students throughout Indonesia (BEM SI) for the People,clarified that his group will not participate in any demonstration on August 25th. “I confirm that the use of the name BEM SI for the People in the demonstration on August 25,2025,is not true,” he stated.
BEM SI for the People previously demonstrated in front of the House of Representatives on August 21, 2025, where students from various universities clashed with police during a protest against revisions to the criminal Code Law (KUHAP) and the Broadcasting Law. The students were also protesting militarism in civil affairs and what they described as intimidation and criminalization of the people’s movement.
“Democracy should belong to everyone, not militarism creeping into civil affairs and policies that instead cause harm to the people,” Pasha said.
Andi Adam Faturahman contributed to this report.
