Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Sebanyak 150 ribu buruh dari DKI Jakarta dan sekitarnya akan menggelar aksi unjuk rasa di depan Istana Negara pada peringatan Hari Buruh Internasional ( May Day ), Selasa, 1 Mei 2018.
Dalam aksi tersebut, buruh akan menyampaikan sejumlah tuntutan kepada pemerintah. Presiden Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Indonesia (KSPI) Said Iqbal mengatakan, aksi unjuk rasa besok akan diikuti hampir satu juta buruh dari 25 provinsi dan 200 kabupaten kota di seluruh Indonesia.
"Untuk aksi di Istana Negara, Jakarta, ada 150 ribu buruh se-Jabodetabek, Serang, Karawang, Purwakarta," ujar dia di Jakarta, Senin (30/4/2018).
Di Jakarta, massa buruh akan berkumpul di depan Patung Kuda dekat Gedung Indosat pukul 10.00 WIB. Setelah itu, peserta aksi akan berjalan kaki ( long march ) ke Istana Negara. Aksi di depan Istana akan berlangsung hingga pukul 13.00 WIB.
"Jam 13.00 peserta massa aksi akan bergerak ke Istora Senayan untuk merayakan May Day sekaligus deklarasi Calon Presiden RI 2019-2024 yang akan dipilih dan didukung buruh Indonesia," tutur dia.
Menurut Said, selain di Jakarta, aksi unjuk rasa juga akan dilaksanakan di seluruh wilayah Indonesia, seperti Surabaya sebanyak 50 ribu buruh se-Jawa Timur di depan Kantor Gubernur Jawa Timur. Kemudian, di Jawa Tengah, sebanyak 15 ribu menggelar aksi di depan Kantor Gubernur Jawa Tengah.
"Sebanyak 15 ribu buruh se-Kepulauan Riau di depan Kantor Wali Kota Batam, 2 ribu buruh di Aceh, 10 ribu buruh di Sumatera Utara, ribuan buruh di Jawa barat, dan lain-lain yang akan melakukan aksi di depan kantor gubernur masing-masing," kata dia.
May Day is perhaps most closely associated by Britons with a three-day bank holiday weekend and an excuse not to set the alarm.
But the traditions of the day have their roots in pagan festivals celebrating spring and fertility and the date has come to be linked to everything from maypole dancing to anti-capitalist protests.
The national holiday itself is a recent invention, with the Labour government only introducing it to the calendar in 1978.
So what is it, and why do we have it?
How did May Day come about?
Three different celebrations in late April have merged to give 1 May its special significance.
Gaelic May Day in Ireland and Scotland, known as Beltane, was held halfway between the spring equinox in the middle of March and the summer solstice in the middle of June.
Marking the beginning of summer, Beltane was celebrated by villagers with bonfires and rituals to protect crops and cattle, along with a big feast.
Beltane is still celebrated in its traditional pagan form in some parts of England including Glastonbury
In Germany, Finland and Sweden, meanwhile, Walpurgis Night celebrated that saint with a feast on 1 May that included dancing and young women being kissed - and was sometimes seen as a night when witches would await the arrival of spring.
Another festival held by the Romans to celebrate Flora, the goddess of flowers, in late April also marked the arrival of summer.
Eventually, together these celebrations became the secular festival of May Day now in existence.
What happens on May Day?
Maypole dancing was banned by Oliver Cromwell's government in 1660
May Day is synonymous with the maypole, believed to be rooted in a pagan tradition of cutting down young trees and sticking them in the ground to mark the arrival of summer - and then dancing around them in rival performances between villages.
The day is also associated with Morris dancing, usually by groups of men wearing different coloured clothes depending on the part of the country they dance in.
Well-dressing and making flower garlands can be part of the festivities, while a May Queen and sometimes a "Green Man" might also make an appearance as the embodiments of spring.
When will it be celebrated this year?
This year's May bank holiday falls at the start of next week, on Monday 7.
Another follows at the end of the month on 28 May.
Why have there been riots on May Day in the past?
Members of Indonesian Labour unions and labour activists march on May Day in Jakarta in 2014
The date coincides with International Workers' Day, which has its roots in a labour union movement that advocated an eight-hour working day.
Anti-capitalist riots have marked the date as a result, first in Ohio in 1919 when disorder during a parade of unionists, socialists, communists and anarchists was violently suppressed by police.
In 2000 and 2001 there were May Day protests in London in which McDonalds, a statue of Sir Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph were attacked and 95 people were arrested.
Other protests took place around the world in 2013, 2014 and 2015 to promote workers' rights.
What are some of the weirder facts surrounding May Day?
Oliver Cromwell and his Puritans described maypole dancing as a "heathenish vanity" and passed legislation against it in 1660.
"Merry Monarch" Charles II, however, returned them to national consciousness by erecting a huge 40-metre pole on the Strand in London and remaining there for almost 50 years.
In Oxford, a Latin hymn or carol is sung from the top of Magdalen College tower on May Day morning, followed by the ringing of bells to signal the start of Morris dancing in the streets.
And one of the more unusual annual traditions associated with the date involves students at St Andrews rushing naked into the sea at sunrise on 1 May out of enthusiasm for the change of season.
VIVA – Puluhan ribu orang akan melakukan aksi demo di depan Istana Merdeka, Jakarta, saat peringatan Hari Buruh 1 Mei 2018. Salah satu yang menjadi sorotan terkait Peraturan Presiden (Perpres) Nomor 20 tahun 2018 tentang tenaga kerja asing (TKA). Walau ada aksi buruh di beberapa titik lokasi, termasuk Istana, Presiden Joko Widodo tetap beraktivitas seperti biasa. Namun tidak dilakukan di Istana Merdeka, Jakarta, melainkan di Istana Bogor. Aktivitas Presiden Jokowi di Istana Bogor besok, yang bertepatan dengan Hari Buruh Internasional atau may day, adalah Konferensi Tingkat Tinggi (KTT) Bogor mengenai Islam Wasathiyah. Dijadwalkan berlangsung sekitar pukul 10.30 WIB.
Rencananya, kegiatan itu akan dihadiri 100 ulama dan cendekiawan muslim dari berbagai negara termasuk Indonesia. "Dari Inggris, dari Amerika, dari Kanada, Australia. Bahkan Presiden dari komunitas Jepang, Presiden dari Korean Muslim Federation, bahkan Presiden CIA (China Islam Association) datang," kata Staf Khusus Presiden untuk Dialog dan Kerja Sama Antar Agama dan Peradaban, Din Syamsuddin, di Istana Negara, Jakarta, Senin, 30 April 2018. Din mengatakan, diharapkan dari KTT Bogor ini nantinya, disimpulkan kesepakatan-kesepakatan tentang cara hidup Islam yang wasathiyah. Menurutnya, ini bisa menjadi solusi dalam problem peradaban dunia saat ini. "Kami akan keluar dengan satu pesan tersebut, Bogor message ," kata mantan Ketum Pimpinan Pusat Muhammadiyah itu. KTT Bogor ini juga diharapkan bisa memberi pesan kepada umat Islam tentang pentingnya pemahaman Islam yang wasathiyah. Yakni Islam yang memberi jalan tengah, tidak gampang mengkafirkan orang, tetapi memberi solusi dan mengedepankan musyawarah dalam setiap penyelesaian masalahnya. "Jangan terjebak dalam radikalisme, fundamentalisme, ekstrimisme. Tapi marilah kita kembali ke sebuah wawasan yang sentral dalam Islam dan keluar kita ingin usulkan kepada dunia wasathiah Islam dapat dipertimbangkan untuk menjadi solusi bagi krisis peradaban dunia dewasa ini," tutur Din. (ren)
- Ribuan personel polisi dikerahkan untuk mengawal perayaan hari buruh sedunia atau May Day di Kota Bandung. Peringatan May Day pada Rabu 1 Mei 2018 digelar di sejumlah titik Kota Bandung."Tentunya kita sudah melaksanakan rapat koordinasi dalam rangka May Day ini. Kita siapkan 1.500 personel untuk May Day di Kota Bandung," ujar Kapolrestabes Bandung Kombes Hendro Pandowo di Mapolrestabes Bandung, Jalan Jawa, Kota Bandung, Jabar, Senin (30/4/2018).Perayaan May Day akan diikuti sejumlah elemen buruh. Di Kota Bandung, kegiatan rutin para buruh pada momen tersebut bakal berlangsung di empat titik."Akan ada unjuk rasa saat May Day. Ada di empat titik, Gedung Sate, Balai Kota Bandung, Gedung DPRD Kota Bandung dan kantor Disnaker Kota Bandung," kata Hendro.Gedung Sate merupakan titik utama pelaksanaan May Day. Selain buruh Bandung, sejumlah buruh dari luar kota akan datang ke Gedung Sate. Polisi sudah menyiapkan pola pengamanan untuk di titik utama kegiatan May Day."Di Gedung Sate, personel akan dibagi ke dalam empat ring. Di dalam, di pintu, di luar dan di jalur," tuturnya.Selain mengamankan sejumlah titik lokasi, polisi siap mengawal para buruh dari mulai titik kumpul hingga Gedung Sate. Termasuk mengawal para buruh dari luar kota."Kedatangan dan kembalinya ke titik kumpul juga kita kawal. Kita kawal sampai selesai, jadi kita siap untuk mengamankan May Day," ucap Hendro.
