'Better productivity should accompany salary increases'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the Indonesian Employers
\nAssociation said yesterday that salary increases should be
\naccompanied by improved performance and productivity.<\/p>\n
\"Workers can always demand a salary increase, but in return
\nthey should increase working productivity for the companies'
\nsurvival,\" Suratnohadisuwito told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Suratno was commenting on the media reports on the proposal
\nfor a salary hike by the Jakarta Commission on Wage Affairs, a
\ngovernment watchdog agency whose membership consists of workers,
\ncompanies and government officials.<\/p>\n
The proposal has yet to be officially submitted to the
\nassociation.<\/p>\n
The Commission has proposed a 17.5 percent salary increase
\nfrom the current daily wage of Rp 4,600 to Rp 5,400 ($2.5), which
\nthe Jakarta branch of the SPSI labor union hopes to implement
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
Companies are willing to help the workers, but they should
\nalso help their employers on a reciprocal basis, Suratno said.
\n\"We cannot just give the increase for free.\"<\/p>\n
He said when the proposal is sent, the Association should,
\naccording to the procedure, first be studied by the governor
\nbefore being approved by the Minister of Manpower.<\/p>\n
Fauzi Ibrahim, chief of SPSI's Jakarta branch, said earlier
\nthat the Commission's proposal was based on how workers could
\nlive better than they do at present.<\/p>\n
The new salary is designed to improve worker welfare, which
\nincludes health care and housing allowances. \"Present wages only
\ncover food and clothing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the Jakarta Governor had agreed with the proposal and
\nhe hoped that the Manpower Minister would approve it by early
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
According to Fauzi, the proposal of a 17.5-percent salary
\nraise is reasonable considering the yearly inflation rate of
\nalmost 10 percent.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a Manpower Ministry official in charge of wage
\naffairs, L.E. Lubis, told the Post that the proposal to increase
\nsalaries had not been sent to him from the Jakarta governor.<\/p>\n
He noted, however, that the Commission should decide on a
\nreasonable increase, without posing an additional expense burden
\non companies, many of which are still not well established.(03)<\/p>",
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