Tangerang workers to see 15% increase in minimum wage<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
Tangerang's Regional Wage Council (DPD), a tripartite team in
\ncharge of assessing wages and conditions for workers in the area,
\nhas decided to increase the minimum wage there by 15 percent in
\n2006.<\/p>\n
"It means the workers will receive a Rp 106,500 increase from
\nthe current Rp 693,500 starting January next year," Apon Suryana,
\nhead of the regental Manpower Agency, who leads the team, said on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
Apon said that the new wage would still need to be approved by
\nTangerang Regent Ismet Iskandar and Banten deputy governor Ratu
\nAtut Choisiah before it came into effect on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n
He said that the agreement over the new wage was reached in
\nthe team's fifth plenary meeting held on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Aside from manpower agency officials, members of the team
\ninclude workers and businesspeople.<\/p>\n
He said that four plenary meetings held earlier to discuss the
\nnew wage were attended by representatives of local
\nbusiness association (Apindo), the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce
\nand Industry (Kadin), workers associations and administration
\nofficials. These meetings often ended in a deadlock, he said.<\/p>\n
Apon said the 15 percent increase had been adjusted to the
\nincreases of fuel prices, consumer goods and inflation. The new
\nwage for Tangerang was not much different from those in other
\ncities in Greater Jakarta, he said.<\/p>\n
"We understand that workers have demanded an increase of over
\n30 percent, but most firms here make products that require a lot
\nof workers. If we accommodate their demand, we are afraid that
\nmany firms will close down within three months and massive
\nlayoffs will be inevitable," he said.<\/p>\n
Workers in the regency had earlier held several rallies to
\npress the administration to raise their minimum wage by more than
\n30 percent.<\/p>\n
Apon hoped that all parties would accept the decision so that
\ninvestment in the regency continued to grow.<\/p>\n
He said that should businessmen still have objections to the
\nwage, they should submit their objections to the DPD, including
\ntheir company's financial balance sheets audited by independent
\npublic accountants.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Tangerang Municipality DPD failed to reach an
\nagreement on the minimum living costs in the area last Friday.<\/p>\n
"We have not reached an agreement on the minimum living costs
\nin the municipality, let alone decide on the new wage," said
\nmunicipal DPD chairman Adang Turwana, who is also head of the
\nmunicipal Manpower Agency.<\/p>\n
He said should the DPD fail to reach an agreement on the
\nminimum living costs by Sunday, he would hand over the issue to
\nTangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim.<\/p>\n
"Let the mayor decide on the minimum living costs and the new
\nwage," he said.<\/p>\n
In the fifth PDD plenary meeting on Friday, workers were still
\ninsisting on a 100-percent increase from the current wage, while
\nbusinessmen had only agreed on a 15 percent hike, he said.<\/p>",
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