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Thousands rally across country against wage regulation
Thousands of workers in a number of regions across the country staged rallies on Tuesday urging the central government to annul the wage regulation, demanding local administrations revoke decrees on the minimum
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housands of workers in a number of regions across the country staged rallies on Tuesday urging the central government to annul the wage regulation, demanding local administrations revoke decrees on the minimum . In Medan, North Sumatra, thousands of workers, from 35 different organizations, blocked sections of road in the downtown area to stage rallies demanding the annulment of Government Regulation (PP) No. 78/2015 on wages.
'Workers have to unite to fight against the arbitrariness committed by employers,' the protesters' coordinator Bambang said on the sidelines of a theatrical protest in front of the North Sumatra governor's office on Tuesday.
He urged the central government to annul PP No. 78/2015 which he deemed very discriminatory to workers.
He said the regulation stipulated that wages were decided based on inflation and economic growth and that there was no sanction for employers violating the regulation.
The protesters demanded to meet acting North Sumatra governor Tengku Erry Nuradi, but the later was out of town.
Some 1,250 police personnel were deployed to secure the rally involving workers from different regions throughout North Sumatra.
Meanwhile in Bandung, West Java, some 300 workers, grouped under the Indonesian Workers Federation Alliance Congress' (KASBI) workers struggle union federation, staged a rally in front of Gedung Sate gubernatorial office, demanding that the governor revoke a decree on the minimum wage for the 27 regencies/cities in the province.
Sudaryanto of the federation's great Bandung branch questioned West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan's move on cutting off the figures recommended by regents and mayors in the province.
'The wage proposal was made based on the agreement of the wage council which included Apindo [the Indonesian Employers Association], worker representatives and the administration,' Sudaryanto said on the sidelines of the rally on Tuesday.
Heryawan has decided on an increase of 11.5 percent in city minimum wage for the 27 regions, arguing that the decision was based on PP No. 78/2015 which included calculation based on inflation and economic growth.
'We have to obey the central government while also trying to comprehend the workers' objection,' Heryawan said in Bandung on Saturday night.
He said his decision on wage increase was based on the 2015 city minimum wage (UMK) and was no longer based on the provincial minimum wage (UMP).
He also said the decision was made through a meeting with the wage council and was supported with a survey on the basic cost of living (KHL).
'It turns out that after being converted to UMK, the wage increase that we decided on here is higher than DKI's [Greater Jakarta's], which was based on the UMP,' Heryawan said.
With the decision, the regency with the highest city minimum wage of Rp 3,330,505 (US$237) is Karawang, while the lowest minimum wage of Rp 1,324,620 is Pangandaran regency.
Wage increases in Bandung city, Cimahi city, Sumedang regency, Purwakarta regency and Depok city, were cut off at 11.5 percent.
He also said the only region having adjusted increase was Ciamis regency, in which the increase was settled at 15.83 percent. With the increase, Ciamis will now have a minimum wage of Rp 1,363,319.10.
A similar rally was also staged by hundreds of workers grouped under the All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) at the Cimahi city administration office. The protesters demanded Cimahi Mayor Atty Suharti issue a recommendation to the central government to revise PP No 78/2015.
