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Indonesia’s evolving image as a destination for foreign investment and a place to do business is under threat. The chaos at the Cikampek tollgate and the Cikarang industrial estate is a black eye for the country and the government.

Workers’ right to protest is not the issue here. They have the right to demand a wage that is decent enough to feed their families and improve their livelihoods. If workers do well, companies do well, and the economy as a whole benefits.

But that thousands of workers from seven industrial zones in Bekasi were allowed to block the Jakarta-Cikampek tollway raises some serious questions about the role of labor activism in the country. Many Bekasi businesses said they felt threatened by workers and were wary of continuing their operations. Many commercial enterprises closed up shop early because of the protests and concerns about their safety and security.

Should workers and labor leaders be allowed to hold the economy hostage because they disagree with the ruling of the Bandung State Administrative Court? There must be a better mechanism through which such labor disputes can be handled. Destructive action cannot and must not be tolerated.

Where were the police in maintaining public order? Why did the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration not intervene and mediate in this affair immediately?

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has had to order Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar to actively communicate with the workers “so that an agreement is reached.” The blocking of the toll road, he added, “has disadvantaged a lot of people.”

The government, in this case the minister, must show leadership to ensure that employers and workers reach an amicable resolution. The Indonesian Employers Association has hinted that it is agreeable to raising the minimum wage in the area but that the increase asked for by labor leaders and decreed by the West Java governor was wholly unacceptable.

It is critical that this issue is settled quickly before it grows out of control. Labor leaders must be brought to heel if they instigated the workers to create public disorder. Nothing less than the country’s future is at risk.