Tangerang workers rally to demand Apindo withdraw legal suit

Some 10,000 workers rallied in front of the office of the Indonesian Employers Association’s (Apindo) Tangerang branch on Jl. Gatot Subroto, Cibodas, on Thursday, to demand that Apindo withdraw its suit it filed with the Bandung State Administrative Court (PTUN).

The workers, who are members of 15 local labor unions united in the Tangerang Raya Workers’ Alliance (SPTR), began the rally at 6 a.m. at four different places -- on Jl. Daan Mogot, Jl. Telesonik, Jl. Cadas and Jl. Imam Bonjol, all in Tangerang municipality.

They simultaneously moved at 9 a.m. to assemble in front of the office, while holding banners, posters and flags, walking in parade-style and riding motorcycles.

The rally caused a three-hour traffic jam.

“We demand Apindo immediately withdraw the suit it filed with the state administrative court in response to a Banten gubernatorial decree on the minimum wage,” SPTR coordinator Poniman told The Jakarta Post.

The workers also demanded that Apindo not discourage firms that were willing to honor the decree, which would see an increase in Banten workers’ salaries to the same level as Jakartan workers.

They also asked all manufacturers to honor the decree, while telling the Manpower Agency to take stern measures against firms that did not comply.

In the decree, issued in December, Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah increased the minimum wage that companies operating in the province have to pay their workers from Rp 1,381,000 (US$153.45) a month to Rp 1,529,000.

The decree is effective for a year and will have to be extended or revised by year-end.

Chairman of Apindo’s Tangerang branch, Gatot Purwanto, refused to comment on the workers’ demands when contacted by The Jakarta Post.(mtq)