Comments: Madiun ignores minimum wage

Oct. 3, Online

More than 105 companies, roughly 15 percent of the listed companies in Madiun, East Java, are paying employees below the district minimum wage (UMK) this year, an official says.

The companies paying below the minimum wage of Rp 720,000 (US$81.60) were mostly small enterprises, Madiun district assistant Agus Pramono said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

However, the district says it has no plans to sanction these companies even though they have violated its wage regulation.

“We will not take action against [the employers] because if this law is enforced we are concerned it will lead to the termination of many workers’ employment contracts,” Madiun assistant district Agus Pramono said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Your comments:

We in the US have heard the same complaints about minimum wage increases every time it is increased. But, you know what?

Nobody loses their job and in fact the employees have more money to spend.

Read the history of Henry Ford, the first American to understand that if you want your employees to be able to buy your product, you must pay them enough.

Kim Wilson
Orlando, Florida

Will politicians or, in the end, the people, stand up and demand changes from the government? We have seen popular social revolts in the world, as we now watch them every day from North Africa and the Middle East.

When will Indonesians and Asians stand up against the enormous divide between the haves and the have-nots? I hear about regular strikes in China.

Peter van Dijk
South Tangerang, Banten