The Jakarta Post, 5/1/2006 4:24:15 PM
Security tight as workers take to the streets in Asia
JAKARTA (AP): Workers rallied Monday across Asia to press for better conditions -
from improving safety in notoriously dangerous factories to boosting wages - often
encountering a heavy police presence and, in some places, outright resistance.
In Sri Lanka, where violence between Tamil Tiger rebels and the military has
heightened fears of a return to civil war, the government canceled all May Day rallies.
Demonstrations occurred in major cities across Indonesia, with around 50,000 people
taking part in the capital alone to protest government plans to revise a labor law. The
new law would cut severance packages and introduce more flexible contracts
thatwould chip away at worker security.
"Don't change the law," thousands of laborers chanted at Jakarta's main downtown
roundabout, as others arrived in buses and trucks, waving green, yellow and red flags
and banners expressing their demands.
About 13,000 police were deployed on the streets, some carrying riot shields and
manning water cannons, said police chief Ins. Gen. Firman Gani said.
Embassies and companies told foreigners to stay away from thedemonstrations,
though there were no reports of incidents.
In the Philippines, which has been plagued by coup rumors, government troops and
police armed with batons and shields turned away hundreds of activists who tried to
approach the presidential palace in Manila early Monday.
But thousands of others vowed to mass there later to mark May Day, and to demand
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's ouster over vote-rigging and corruption
allegations.
Other protests were planned at the historic Mendiola bridge, which has become a
symbol of anti-government resistance. Some 500 policemen stood guard there,
backed by troops armed with assault rifles and other weapons.
Manila police chief Vidal Querol appealed to protesters to gather in five designated
"freedom parks" and avoid the presidential palace area to prevent any violent
showdown.
In Cambodia, thousands of police brought the capital, Phnom Penh, to a virtual
standstill during a government clampdown on an unauthorized May Day
demonstration.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said police detained a protest organizer for two hours
after hundreds of workers gathered on Russian Boulevard - a main road into the
capital - seeking to march through the city.
Thousands of garment factory workers rallied in Bangladesh to demand the United
States and Europe drop tariffs on their products, saying they could eventually cause
the industry's collapse.
Other laborers wound through the streets of the capital, Dhaka, banging drums and
singing as they called for better working conditions in the country's dangerous
factories.
In South Korea, protesters demanded equal status and protection for all workers, and
vowed to thwart a government plan to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United
States. Critics say the pact will cost jobs. (**)
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