May 3 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 40,000 Indonesian workers broke through gates outside Parliament to protest proposed changes to a labor law, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd, Jakarta Police Chief Firman Gani said.
``We give them liberty to express their aspiration until 6 p.m. before they have to leave the area,'' Gani said. ``We'll arrest those who commit any anarchistic act.'' The police used five water cannons to help keep the situation under control.
Workers have protested on Jakarta's streets for the past three days to try to force the government to withdraw the changes that workers say will reduce employee rights.
Indonesia wants to make it cheaper for companies to fire workers as part of a package of measures aimed at luring $426 billion of new investment by 2009, which the government says is needed to maintain average economic growth of 6.6 percent in a nation where about 40 million people survive on 70 cents a day. The minimum monthly wage in Jakarta is 665,000 rupiah ($76).
The government is revising the 2003 employment law following complaints from employers that the bill gave workers too many benefits and harmed the country's economic competitiveness and its attractiveness to investors.
Jakarta police today closed the road in front of Parliament, ElShinta radio said. The road links east Jakarta to the west.
The government last month decided to ask five universities to study the revised draft legislation and planned meetings with labor unions and the business community to gather proposed final amendments to be submitted to Parliament.
Severance Cuts
Under proposed changes, severance pay will be cut to the equivalent of seven months from nine months. Workers who earn more than 1 million rupiah a month won't be entitled to any severance pay.
As many as 30,000 Indonesian workers staged rallies across Jakarta on May 1 to protest the changes. About 10,000 protesters from labor groups on April 5 broke street lamps, damaged a public bus in central Jakarta and threw stones at parked cars.
After the April 5 rally, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered government officials, labor unions and employers to collaborate on revising the bill.
