Tens of thousands of workers from various regions across Indonesia are set to hold simultaneous demonstrations on Thursday, August 28, 2025.
The demonstration, called HOSTUM (which stands for “Hapus Outsourcing, Tolak Upah Murah” or “Eliminate Outsourcing, Reject Low Wages”), aims to raise labour issues and oppose all forms of violence. This mass action has been initiated by the Labour Party, the Coalition of Trade Unions, and the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia or KSPI).
Said Iqbal, President of the KSPI and the Labour Party, stated that the demonstration in Jakarta will be centred in front of the office of the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or DPR).
“The action by the Labour Party, KSPI, and the Coalition of Trade Unions will take place on the 28th of August, 2025, which falls on a Thursday, in front of the DPR building,” Iqbal said, as quoted from the press on Wednesday, the 27th of August.
According to Iqbal, no fewer than 10,000 workers from Jakarta, Karawang, Bekasi, Bogor, Depok, and Tangerang will march towards the city centre. Similar demonstrations will also be held simultaneously in various cities, including Serang, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Banda Aceh, Batam, Bandar Lampung, Banjarmasin, Pontianak, Samarinda, Makassar, and Gorontalo.
Iqbal emphasised that this demonstration is an opportunity to convey workers’ aspirations and demands, and called on the government to side with their interests. He also stated that the action would be conducted peacefully.
“We want to fight in a just, non-violent, and anti-bullying manner,” he had previously said in a video uploaded to the Labour Party’s official Instagram account on Tuesday, the 26th of August.
According to information from the Labour Party President, the protesters intend to voice six demands, including:
- Eliminate outsourcing and reject low wages;
- Increase the minimum wage by 8.5–10.5% in 2026;
- Revoke Government Regulation No. 35 of 2021, which the Constitutional Court declared applicable only to certain types of jobs;
- Halt layoffs through the establishment of a Layoff Task Force;
- Tax reform, including raising the Non-Taxable Allowance (Penghasilan Tidak Kena Pajak or PTKP) from Rp4.5 million to Rp7.5 million per month; abolishing taxes on severance pay, THR (Tunjangan Hari Raya or Holiday Allowance), and JHT (Jaminan Hari Tua or Job Allowance), and ending tax discrimination against married women;
- Ratify the Manpower Bill in accordance with Constitutional Court Decision Number 168 of 2024, which has yet to be enacted nearly a year after the decision was issued.
In addition to employment issues, the workers are urging the government to tackle corruption. They stressed the importance of ratifying the Asset Confiscation Bill and revising the Election Law in line with the Constitutional Court’s decision, which they refer to as the 2029 Election System Redesign.