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undreds of workers from Central Java staged a rally on Wednesday, in front of the governor'€™s office in Semarang, demanding monthly wages of Rp 2.1 million (US$187) in 2014.

The rally was held in response to the figure of Rp 1.92 million per month proposed by the Semarang Municipal Wage Council.

Rally coordinator M. Buhron said the council'€™s proposal that wages be set at less than Rp 2 million per month violated the mandate that the workers had given the council.

'€œThe proposed wage would not offer adequate living standards. We ask Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo to side with the workers and reject the proposed minimum wage,'€ Buhron said on the sidelines of the rally on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ganjar had hosted a coordination meeting to discuss the minimum wage for 2014.

After the meeting, a member of Semarang'€™s wage council, Slamet Kaswanto, said that councilors had proposed a minimum wage of Rp 1.92 million per month.

He explained the figure was reached after taking into account the estimated standard cost of living (KHL) as of December 2013 and estimated inflation in 2014 of 6 percent.

Slamet said the KHL for December 2013 was expected to be Rp 1.82 million. Adding on the predicted 6 percent inflation, the proposed monthly wage totaled Rp 1.92 million.

Acting head of the Central Java Manpower, Transmigration and Population Agency, Wika Bintang, said that companies operating in the 35 regencies/cities across Central Java had different capacities in terms of paying wages to their respective employees.

Therefore, he added, each company would conduct their own calculations on the matter.

Separately, Ganjar said he was seeking a new formula in determining wages, as everything depended on the capabilities of the companies in the province.

'€œI have asked the manpower agency and the wage council to conduct a survey on the 2014 wage formula,'€ Ganjar said.

He added that he would review the methodology used for the survey and monitor how the survey was conducted in reaching a particular figure.

'€œI have also asked that both workers and employers participate in the process,'€ he said, adding that the survey was expected to be completed by Nov. 20.