President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Thursday appealed workers to rally peacefully in celebrating the International Workers` Day or May Day, Antara reported. "We respect all workers' rights and we hope that the rally can be done peacefully," Andi Mallarangeng, a presidential spokesman, said here on Thursday. Mallarangeng said that the President always respected the workers` efforts to improve their welfare and hoped that they could become more productive. The President always paid serious attention to the country`s workers, and therefore he had held a meeting with representatives of workers, such as the Indonesian Labor Union Confederation and the Indonesian Labor Union for Workers` Welfare, at the State Palace, on May 31, 2008, he said. The closed-door meeting was attended among others by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno and several other cabinet ministers.
