Protests erupt in Bandung and Medan for wage rises<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post,
\nBandung\/Medan<\/p>\n
Labor protests erupted separately in Bandung and Medan on
\nWednesday after their respective 2004 minimum wage pay increases
\nwere apparently much less than they had hoped.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, around 500 workers from dozens of factories staged
\na rally at the West Java legislative council to protest their new
\nminimum wage of only Rp 565,000 (US$66) per month up from Rp
\n538,000 in 2003, or a 5 percent raise.<\/p>\n
The payment would not meet the workers' minimum living cost in
\nBandung, they argued.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators urged West Java Governor Danny Setiawan to
\nup the wage to Rp 643,057 (US$75.6), to meet minimum living costs
\nas earlier calculated by the Bandung payment council.<\/p>\n
The protesters were grouped in five trade unions -- the
\nFederation of Indonesian Free Workers' Unions (Gaspermindo), the
\nNational Labor Union (SPN), the Garment and Textile Trade Union
\n(Garteks) and the Federation of All-Indonesian Labor
\nOrganizations (GOBSI).<\/p>\n
Under the laws, governors are authorized to set their
\nprovincial minimum wage based on input from mayors or regents.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 2, Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada set the city's minimum
\nwage at Rp 565,000 after considering the proposal from the local
\npayment council after it had taken into account objections from
\nbusinesspeople.<\/p>\n
In responding to those objections, the city's payment council
\napparently recalculated the local minimum living cost and came up
\nwith Rp 565,000, he added.<\/p>\n
Bandung payment council head Zisman Samosir said the city's
\nwage was decided based on an agreement of all members of its
\ncommissions comprising academics, government officials, employers
\nand labor union leaders.<\/p>\n
\"We voted on it and made a decision. In fact, all of the
\nmembers agreed that Rp 565,000 should be the 2004 wage,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The irony of such protests, however is that it is the high
\ncost of doing business here that companies cite as their reason
\nfor relocating abroad, and in turn putting more local people out
\nof work.<\/p>\n
At least 67 textile companies have had to shut down their
\noperations and lay off thousands of workers due to the annual
\nwage increases and a big drop in production orders from
\ninternational companies, local businesspeople said.<\/p>\n
The closures rendered some 10,000 workers jobless in Bandung
\nthis year alone, they added.<\/p>\n
A similar rally took place in Medan, where hundreds of workers
\nfrom the North Sumatra Labor Advocacy Network (JABSU) rejected
\nthe 2004 provincial wage of Rp 537,000, a 6 percent rise from
\n2003.<\/p>\n
They offered a warning to the local government to soon change
\nthe decision to prevent possible unrest.<\/p>\n
The new wage would still not meet minimum living costs, which
\nthey argued was some Rp 900,000.<\/p>\n
\"This government policy ... is a violation of Article 27 (2)
\nof the 1945 Constitution stipulating that every citizen has the
\nright to work and a proper life,\" protest leader Zainal Abidin
\nsaid.<\/p>",
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