Jakarta, Dec 10 (Antara) -- Thousands of workers from 41 trade unions
took to streets in Jakarta and in other parts of Indonesia on Wednesday
to ask for a hike in their wages.
The movement was also held to demonstrate their rejection of the increase in the prices of fuel.
The workers threatened to go on a nationwide strike if the government
failed to meet their demands raised jointly in the capital city of
Jakarta.
"We will see how the government reacts to the demands we raised in
today's rally," a spokesman for the Federation of Indonesian Metal
Workers Union (FSPMI), Rusli, said.
Groups that claimed to hold demonstrations across the country on
Wednesday include the Indonesian Workers Union Confederation (KSPI),
KSPSI, KSBSI, SPN, and FSPMI, among other workers' organizations. They
want the government to raise their minimum wages and to revoke its
recent decision to raise subsidized fuel prices. They added that the
government should not raise fuel prices when the crude price of the
world was declining.
The Indonesian Workers' Union Association (Aspek) urged the government
to revise the 2015 provincial minimum wage rates in all provinces to
increase workers' purchasing power after the government raised fuel oil
prices, which led to a rise in the prices of commodities.
"The 2015 provincial minimum wage rates should be revised because it
was decided without taking into account the impact of the fuel oil and
electricity price hikes," Aspek President Mirah Sumirat noted in a
written statement on Wednesday.
The fuel price increase reduced workers' purchasing power by 50
percent, which made the 2015 wage hikes meaningless because workers
cannot enjoy the raise in the wake of the policy on fuel price.
Therefore, workers urged governors of all provinces across the country
to revise the minimum wage rates to at least Rp3 million per month. They
also demanded that the Minister of Manpower revise and increase the
items included in their decent living costs (KHL) to 84 items.
Sumirat
also hoped that remuneration councils in provinces and districts are
given a chance to recalculate the rate of their minimum wages for 2015.
The increase, which ranges at between 10 and 12 percent so far, will not
meet workers' needs.
For example, the minimum wage rate of Rp2.7 million in Jakarta set by
the governor is lower than even that of Bekasi, Karawang, Purwakarta,
Depok, and Tangerang in West Java where it was set at Rp2.9 million.
"The government should keep its eyes and ears open while formulating a
policy that could protect people and improve their prosperity," Sumirat
remarked.
In Jakarta, workers held rallies that caused traffic congestions on the
main roads of the capital city, including around the HI traffic circle
and Thamrin road towards the Presidential Palace.
Last
week, KSPI Secretary General Muhammad Rusdi stated that labor unions
would organize a national strike on December 10 and 11 to raise five
demands.
"Based on our initial plan, we will organize a labor strike on December
10 and 11 to raise five demands before the government," Rusdi affirmed
last Wednesday.
Among
the five demands is the revocation of the subsidized fuel oil price
hikes because it has reduced the purchasing power of laborers, the
secretary general noted.
"Their purchasing power in sectors such as food, transportation, and
housing has declined. An increase of Rp2,000 per liter of oil has added a
burden of some Rp400 thousand on laborers. In Jakarta, there has been
no wage hike. Workers have to cover their costs of living somehow," he
observed.
Their
second demand is that all governors revise provincial minimum wage
rates in accordance with or by taking into account the impacts of the
fuel oil price rise.
"Any
chance of hikes in the provincial minimum wage rates this year has been
closed. Even Jakarta's provincial wage was set at Rp2.7 million per
month sometime ago. Based on the labor alliance's calculations, the
minimum wage should be at least Rp3 million per month to cover the
impact of the fuel oil price hikes," he explained.
The
third demand, he said, is the imposition of pension insurance for
laborers by 2015 in line with the new regulations of the government.
The fourth includes a ban on outsourcing work, particularly in state-owned companies (BUMNs).
That the government should improve the health security system for citizens is their fifth demand.
Besides
these five demands, workers also insist that the government provide
health security and minimum wages for informal laborers who, so far,
have been given no social protection.
With
regard to the workers' demands, employers also face difficulties in
meeting them as production costs rose as a result of the increase in the
prices of raw materials.
Some also fear that they will be forced to lay off workers.
At
least five companies in Bekasi, West Java, have begun reducing the
number of their workers for being unable to pay them based on the local
minimum wage decided by the remuneration council for 2015.
"The
minimum wage hike for workers in Bakasi set at Rp2.9 million per month
has led to a reduction in the number of workers," Purnomo Nirmiadi, the
chairman of the Bekasi chapter of the Indonesian Employers' Association
(Apindo), pointed out here on Wednesday.
He
added that all of the five companies had acknowledged that they were
unable to pay their workers based on the minimum wage rates set for 2015
as decided by the local remuneration council in November.
An average of about 20 percent of the total number of workers from each of the five companies were laid off, he stated.
"Many
of the companies that laid off their workers are part of the food and
beverage sectors," the Apindo chairman noted.
He
further said that the companies were reducing their workers to cover
their production costs due to the rise in the prices of raw materials.
"The
possibility that other companies will follow this step and lay off
workers has not been ruled out," Nirmiadi remarked.
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(T.A014/INE)
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(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 10-12-2014 20:55 |
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