REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono congratulated workers on the occasion of the International Labor Day here on Thursday, saying the government will continue to support pro-worker policies.

"Today, May 1, 2014, we commemorate the International Labor Day. I wish to congratulate workers as industrial heroes," he said on his Twitter account @SBYudhoyono.

He said, "The government will continue to pass policies that are pro-workers as well as pro-industries, including on housing, bus and hospital services."

President Yudhoyono added that the government hoped the welfare of workers will improve every year.

"We wish the pay and welfare of workers improve in the future. Their lives must be decent. The era of cheap labor is over," he said.

If the economy continued to grow, he said, the welfare of workers must also be accompanied by higher productivity.

"The economy and the business must be more productive so that companies can increase the wages of their workers," he said.

President Yudhoyono said if disputes occurred between companies and workers they must be settled in a manner that hurts neither party.

"The relationship between the Federation and Worker Unions with the Apindo (employers' association) must become better and closer. They all must 'win'. If disputes occurred, settle them peacefully. Find a just solution. Do not settle them with violence. Violence will not settle problems," he noted.

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