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Riau's minimum wage set at Rp 1.7m through voting
The Riau Remuneration Board has set the provinceâs 2014 minimum wage at Rp 1
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he Riau Remuneration Board has set the province's 2014 minimum wage at Rp 1.7 million (US$151.3), up Rp 300,000 or 21.4 percent from last year, through voting as negotiations reached a deadlock.
Head of Riau Manpower and Transmigration Agency, Nazaruddin, who is also Riau Remuneration Board head, said the 2014 minimum wage was agreed on Friday evening, meeting the deadline stipulated by the Manpower and Transmigration Minister Regulation No.7/2013.
'We had to decide it through voting because although we had held negotiation meetings five times, no agreement could be achieved. Sharp differences between workers and businesspeople could not be resolved,' said Nazaruddin.
He further said that until the last meeting on Friday, each side continued to stick to their opinion.
Before deciding the 2014 minimum wage, the Remuneration Board first set Riau's basic living cost standard (KHL) at Rp 1,724,000.
'The new minimum wage fulfills only 98.6 percent of the KHL, lower than the workers' demand who sought 40-50 percent increase in minimum wage from the one in 2013,' said Nazaruddin.
The meeting was attended by 19 out of 29 Remuneration Board members. Following the deadlock, the tripartite negotiation later agreed that they would choose one of three minimum wage options through a voting. The options were Rp 1,575,000, Rp 1.7 million; and Rp 1,71 million.
'Fifteen votes were in favor of the second option while the first option was supported by three votes. One person supported the third option,' said Nazaruddin.
He said the proposal on 2014 minimum wage agreement had been submitted to the Riau Governor who would determine it as a Riau governor decree.
'The new minimum wage is set to take effect on Jan.1, 2014,' Nazaruddin said. (ebf)
