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demonstration to raise the minimum wage in Surabaya, East Java, turned rowdy on Tuesday, when thousands of workers from Gresik rallied in front of the governor’s office on Jl. Pahlawan.

Some workers grew enraged on Tuesday after learning that East Java Governor Soekarwo declined to meet with their representatives from the Gresik Labor Union.

The representatives left the governor’s office after they were met by Edy Purwinarto, the third assistant of the people’s welfare division.

As news of the perceived slight spread through the crowd, some started to push against the temporary barriers erected to block their access.

As police officers on hand to provide security formed a line, protesters pelted them with glass and plastic water bottles.

Tensions lowered when Edy told the crowd that Soekarwo would meet with their representatives “soon”, as reported by tribunnews.com.

The incident follows rallies on Monday, when thousands of workers from five East Java cities — Surabaya, Pasuruan, Gresik, Sidoarjo and Mojokerto — rallied at Negara Grahadi, which is the official residence of the East Java governor, and at the headquarters of the provincial administration, demanding that officials raise the monthly minimum wage from around Rp 1.5 million (US$155) to Rp 2.2 million.

Soekarwo had previously met to discuss wage hikes, which are set by individual administrations, with regents, mayors, the heads of local manpower agencies and representatives of both workers and the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).

The meeting, however, yielded no results. “We still have to consult on this issue with the manpower and transmigration minister [Muhaimin Iskandar],” Soekarwo said.

Separately, officials in Batam, Riau Islands, were still debating on increasing the local minimum wage for 2012.

A meeting of the Batam Manpower Agency, the city remuneration council, Apindo and the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers (FSPMI) on Monday ended in stalemate.

FSPMI has requested that the monthly minimum wage be increased from Rp 1.4 million to Rp 2.1 million, while Apindo said it would only agree to raise wages to Rp 1.79 million.

The meeting will resume on Wednesday. “If the meeting on Wednesday still ends in deadlock, let the mayor make the decision. The mayor can even ask the governor to set the next year’s minimum wage if he fails to do so,”
Zarefriadi said.

Meanwhile, North Penajam Paser Regent Andi Harahap in East Kalimantan has decided to raise the local minimum wage from Rp 1.3 million to Rp 1.9 million, slightly under the Rp 2 million demanded by workers.