In recent weeks, Indonesia has seen a wave of mass protests and workers’ strikes in response to the government’s new so-called Omnibus Law — the collection of amendments to existing laws that are set to strip rights from workers and undermine environmental standards. Over nine hundred pages long, the bill was passed into law in on October 5 without even a draft being released to the public. Dozens of existing laws, including regulations on labor, mining, and environmental protection are affected.

Major trade union federations representing thirty-two labor unions called for a three-day nation-wide strike in opposition to the bill. Tens of thousands of workers, notably in the industrial areas, went on strike. Many more joined protests across Indonesia in dozens of cities across the archipelago. In dozens of cities, clashes took place as police tried to ban gatherings with the excuse of health precautions.

The bill was quickly passed into law as the public was preoccupied by the continuing health crisis, made worse by government mismanagement. In mid-February, as cases in the region were mounting, Indonesia’s minister of health claimed that the country was still completely free from the virus — thanks to prayer. The official death count is over thirteen thousand (widely assumed to be unrealistically low) making Indonesia one of the worse hit countries in the region. In April, trade unions had forced Parliament to suspend a debate on the bill. Now the bill has passed anyway.