Government unveils minimum wage hike<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government on Friday officially announced an
\naverage hike of 33.5 percent in the monthly minimum wage in 24
\nprovinces which is expected to become effective on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n
The 24 provinces mentioned include the eight provinces of
\nAceh, Riau, East Kalimantan, North Sumatra, Central Sulawesi,
\nEast and West Nusa Tenggara and the Riau archipelago where
\nminimum wage increases were already announced last month.<\/p>\n
The monthly minimum wages were determined by the provincial
\ntripartite wages committees in the provinces and have been
\napproved by the respective governors.<\/p>\n
Director General for Industrial Relations and Labor Standards
\nat the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, Syaufii
\nSyamsuddin, said that with the implementation of regional
\nautonomy in 2001, the central government would no longer have the
\nexclusive authority to determine the minimum wage.<\/p>\n
The monthly minimum wage in Jakarta was raised by 24 percent
\nto Rp 426,250 (US$45.8) from Rp 344,257 ($37) while in West Java
\nit was hiked by 7 percent to Rp 245,000 from Rp 230,000.<\/p>\n
The minimum wage in the Batam industrial zone was raised by 14
\npercent to Rp 485,000 from Rp 425,000 while that in East Java was
\nhiked by 9 percent to Rp 220,000 from Rp 202,000.<\/p>\n
North Sulawesi had the highest increase of 100 percent to Rp
\n372,000 from the present Rp 186,000, while the lowest percentage
\nincrease was in West Java were it rose just 7 percent from Rp
\n230,000 to Rp 245,000.<\/p>\n
According to Syaufii, the minimum wages in the newly
\nestablished provinces of Gorontalo, Banten, North Maluku and
\nBangka-Belitung were similar to their mother provinces because
\nthe new provincial administrations had yet to be established.<\/p>\n
Lampung and Central Kalimantan have yet to decide on their
\nminimum wages because of deadlocked negotiations in the their
\nrespective tripartite wages committees.<\/p>\n
Syaufii also urged that in the future labor unions should
\nstart focussing more on their bargaining power vis-a-vis
\nemployers to help boost overall workers' welfare instead of
\nmerely highlighting their efforts on the minimum wage.<\/p>\n
\"Labor unions should no longer focus their struggle on just
\nregional minimum wages but intensify bipartite negotiations with
\nemployers to help improve workers' social welfare,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post here on Friday.<\/p>\n
The presence of labor unions in companies was essential for
\nrepresenting workers in negotiating employment matters, including
\nwages and remuneration, allowances and other facilities, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The regional minimum wages are valid only for (new) job
\nseekers and workers with zero work experience while workers
\nemployed in firms are already paid above the minimum wage level,\"
\nhe pointed out. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-unveils-minimum-wage-hike-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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