Around 3,000 workers on Tuesday took to the streets, besieging City Hall in Central Jakarta, in a second attempt to pressure the governor into raising the minimum wage.

The demonstration, organized by the Jakarta Labor Forum, was the second after the city wage committee in July began discussing the 2014 minimum wage. It was aimed to air participants'€™ rejection of the recent presidential instruction that said wage hikes would be based on inflation levels and limited wage hikes to a maximum 10 percent. The presidential instruction was issued to support the government'€™s economic policy aimed at defusing the economic downturn.

Jakarta Labor Forum secretary-general Muhammad Toha said workers would regularly go on strike until the presidential instruction was revised.

'€œThis [Inpres] is against the law, and we hope the administration focuses on the 2003 Labor Law when it comes to raising the minimum provincial wages [UMP],'€ Toha said on Tuesday in a dialogue with Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama.

Toha said workers should be paid Rp 3.7 million (US$323) next year, an increase from the current Rp 2.2 million, due to expenditure increases along with the fuel-price hike in July.

He also said that the government, as well as employers, should accept the 86 wage components that have been proposed by labor unions. Ministerial Decree No 13/2012 outlines only 60 wage components.

'€œThis is a win-win solution. In other countries, the list of standard cost of living [KHL] consists of 120 items,'€ he said.

Toha suggested that companies claiming to be unable to pay their workers the minimum wage due to financial hardships should be audited by independent auditors.

Meanwhile, Association of Indonesian Labors Confederation (KSPI) secretary-general Muhammad Rusdi said the presidential instruction came about due to angry businesspeople who wanted to exploit workers and maintain the '€œlow wage regime'€.

'€œThe KHL survey was conducted this year to determine next year'€™s wage. This is not right,'€ he said.

Rusdi added that some items in the current wage components were still too low.

'€œFor transportation, for example, workers are given Rp 7,000 a day, just to take a Transjakarta bus. But in fact they also need to get a ojek [motorcycle taxi],'€ he said.

In the meeting, Ahok said that workers could not demand an amount before looking into the KHL survey from the central government.

'€œWage should be based on the KHL components, not simply based on what workers need,'€ Ahok said in the meeting.

Separately, Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo was pessimistic that the city administration would be able to accommodate the workers'€™ aspirations.

'€œThe country is expecting a budget deficit. Imports are being held yet we are still arguing about minimum wage. I guess this is not the right time,'€ he told reporters on Tuesday.

'€œCompanies are struggling to survive. I hope workers can understand this situation,'€ he added.

The Jakarta administration has predicted an economic slowdown in the capital during the second half of this year, forecasting that growth will stand between 6.3 and 6.7 percent this year.

Jakarta Manpower Agency head Priyono said that the agency had conducted a number of surveys on standard living costs in the capital to set the new minimum wage for next year.

'€œWe have conducted six surveys and will conduct two more in September and October,'€ he said.

More than 30,000 workers are expected to participate in another protest on Thursday in front of the Presidential Palace.

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