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Gresik workers strike against disregard for minimum wage
Gresik has followed other regencies protesting against the blatant disregard of a recent rise in minimum wages by employers, which it has called on to respect workers' rights
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Gresik has followed other regencies protesting against the blatant disregard of a recent rise in minimum wages by employers, which it has called on to respect workers' rights.
Up to 1,000 workers thronged the Surabaya District Court on Thursday to register their protest of the employers' violation of a 2008 gubernatorial decree, which raised the regional minimum wage to Rp 971,624 (US$80) per month as of Jan. 1, 2009.
They demanded employers comply with the decree until the verdict of a lawsuit challenging the decree is announced.
Workers from industrial areas in Rungkut, Sidoarjo, Kediri and Pasuruan previously went on strike against the disrespect of their rights by their employers, who suspended the implementation of the wage increase, citing the court's pending decision.
The decree, issued by former acting governor Setia Purwaka in October, approved a 17 percent raise in minimum wages and sparked strong protests from most employers within the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo), who filed a law suit against with the district court.
Meanwhile, dozens of middle-sized companies have conducted mass after the government turned down their request to be exempted from the new minimum wage decree.
Unionists who coordinated the labor rally criticized both employers and the government, who they said had no political will to enforce the law. They said the government should force employers to comply with the decree until the court makes its decision and that employers should pay their workers according to the decree.
They said the lawsuit was only one of tricks used by employers to buy time and reduce labor costs. "Besides, many employers have replaced their permanent workers with contractual ones, locked their factories and unilaterally closed their operation without any severance or service payments," a unionist in a free speech forum at the court building said.
Accommodating employers' wishes, the central government issued a joint ministerial decree - signed by the manpower and transmigration minister, the home minister and the industry minister - asking the provincial governments to raise the minimum wage by seven percent, equal to the 2008 inflation rate. The governor however, did not heed the call as it was met by strong protests from workers and labor unions.
The protesters threatened to stage bigger labor demonstrations and rallies if the district court annulled the gubernatorial decree, saying both the government and law enforcers did not understand the poor condition of millions of underpaid workers in the country.
They said the ideal minimum wage in Gresik was at least Rp 1.5 million, which would allow a single worker to meet his/her daily basic needs but in reality, most married workers were still paid below the previous minimum wage.
The demonstrators also demanded PT Indo Mapan to comply with the recent verdict of the Gresik District Court, which ordered them to pay severance and service payments to workers dismissed in January as a result of the global financial crisis.
