All sides protest Batam minimum wage<\/p>\n
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam<\/p>\n
After making workers wait some time for his final decision, Riau
\nIslands Governor Ismeth Abdullah officially raised the minimum
\nwage to Rp 815,000 (US$81.50) per month from the previous Rp
\n635,000.<\/p>\n
The 28 percent rise, on which a final decision was only
\nreached at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, was greeted by protests from
\nboth businesspeople and workers on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Batam branch of the Indonesian Employers
\nAssociation, Abidin, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that
\nemployers could not afford to pay the new minimum wage.<\/p>\n
He lashed out at the administration for raising the wage
\nwithout considering the problems faced by businesses following
\nthe government's decision to raise fuel prices in October.<\/p>\n
\"We let the governor decide Batam's minimum wage in the hope
\nthat he would consider the interests of employers, but it turns
\nout we were wrong. We can't afford to accept this decision,\" said
\nAbidin, adding that employers had hoped the new minimum wage
\nwould be below Rp 800,000 per month.<\/p>\n
Following the governor's decision, Abidin, who owns
\nelectronics assembling firm Sat Nusa Persada, said he would lay
\noff some of his 8,000 workers immediately, but did not give a
\nnumber.<\/p>\n
The new minimum wage in Batam -- a prominent industrial city
\nthat benefits from its proximity to Singapore, with many foreign
\nand domestic firms having factories there that ship their
\nproducts to Singapore before being dispatched worldwide -- is
\nlower than to the new minimum wage of Rp 819,100 in Jakarta but
\nhigher than in Bandung, West Java, where it is Rp 710,000.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Batam workers say the new minimum wage is
\nfar from adequate for them to live decent lives given rising
\nprices for basic necessities in Batam.<\/p>\n
On average, workers say they need Rp 1,029,438 per month to
\nlive, while the new minimum wage only accounts for 79 percent of
\nthis figure.<\/p>\n
The head of the All-Indonesian Workers Union in Batam city,
\nEdwin Haryono, said on Thursday that the workers would protest
\nthe decision by going on strike.<\/p>\n
\"We want the new minimum wage to be match the cost of living,
\nor at least be close to it. But with this decision, we'll go on
\nstrike as a last resort,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Azman Taufik, the director of the Riau Islands
\nManpower and Economic Affairs Office, Azman Taufik, said the new
\nminimum wage only applied to employees who had been working with
\na firm for less than a year.<\/p>\n
The wages of those with more than one year's service were
\ncalculated based on an agreement between the workers and
\nemployers, he added.<\/p>\n
\"We also plan to cut bureaucratic costs and illegal charges
\nthat currently burden businesses in Batam to allow them to cut
\ntheir operating costs and pay their workers the new minimum
\nwage,\" he said. \"We hope that both the employers and workers will
\naccept this decision.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/all-sides-protest-batam-minimum-wage-1447893297",
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