The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) expresses its warm solidarity with the Indonesian workers and unions, students and people who are holding street protests against excessive pay for politicians and for higher wages for workers.

We condemn the Prabowo Subianto government’s repression of the protests, which has led to the death of 21-year old Affan Kurniawan, a delivery rider of popular Southeast Asian app Gojek. The Indonesian government should listen to the demands forwarded by the protests rather than repressing them.

The salary of 100 million rupiah or USD 6,150 a month and a handsome housing allowance that Indonesia’s parliamentarians receive are indeed revolting for the workers and people of Indonesia. Parliamentarians are earning 30 times more than the average income of 3.1 million rupiah.

Government repression of street protests, using tear gas and water cannons, is adding fuel to the fire. It shows the government’s insensitivity towards protestors and the poor, as it uses government resources to quell dissent rather than improving social services, social protection and social justice programs.

The Prabowo Subianto government’s apology for the death of Affan Kurniawan after being hit by a police vehicle is not enough; those responsible must be held accountable. Kurniawan’s death captures the legitimacy of the protests and the unjust response of the Indonesian government. It has elicited the condemnation of riders and workers in the country.

The Indonesian protests over cost of living issues should be a wake-up call to the Ferdinand Marcos Jr government. Indonesia’s economy is even stronger than that of the Philippines, yet workers and unions, students and the poor are holding angry protests at inequality and lack of social justice.

The situation in Indonesia has parallels in the Philippines. Wages are very low and the government has not taken decisive action to increase them. Government officials are pocketing huge sums of the people’s money, even as they also engage in corruption, in relation to the flood control projects, for example.

Politicians are taking money from the workers and the people that should be spent for social services, social protection and social justice programs that advance labor and human rights. They have become divorced from the workers and people that they should serve, and have rejected demands for a wage hike and other measures that advance labor rights.

The Indonesian workers and people have legitimate reasons to demand for an end to mass layoffs and outsourcing, and for a tax reform that is fair and equitable. The protests are a litmus test for the government of Prabowo Subianto, known for his leading role in government repression in Timor, Papua and in defense of the Suharto regime in the late 90s.