Many have questioned how effective the Transjakarta bus system has been considering Jakarta’s awful traffic still persists. But more and more people have become reliant on the system in its 13 years of service and the effects of today’s large-scale strike is evidence of that.
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This morning, dozens of Transjakarta buses started lining up on Jalan KH Hasyim Ashari, before the Harmoni Transjakarta bus stop in West Jakarta. The buses were parked and drivers told their passengers that they had to exit immediately directly onto the road.
“I sincerely apologize, Bapak and Ibu, the bus service is stopping here. There is a demo,” said one bus attendant on the Corridor 3 Kalideres-Pasar Baru route.
Despite the huge inconvenience, it seems most passengers did not protest too much. Drivers and support staff from the busway system did demonstrate, however, at the headquarters of state-owned enterprise PT Transportasi Jakarta, which operates the Transjakarta.
According to CNN Indonesia, around 200 employees protested at the company’s headquarter throughout the morning and midday to demand that part-time contractors be given permanent employee status.
“Today we express our aspiration to the company’s board that we are worthy of being permanent employees. What I said needs support,” said one of the speaking strikers, according to Detik.
According to reports, some of the demonstrators had come directly to the HQ since before 10 am, when the demo starter, while others worked before the protest or said they were scheduled to go on shift later.
The Department of Transportation is denying reports of widespread service shutdowns throughout the Transjakarta network, and said that services would not stop since drivers were still working many routes and would be given additional support staff to cope. They did admit that service had stopped along the Blok M – Kota Corridor 1 which runs through Harmoni.
PT Transportasi Jakarta has not yet made any statements regarding the strike or the protesters’ demands. It is unclear how long the strike may last.
