10,000 workers plan massive strike for wage increase
JAKARTA (JP): More than 10,000 workers from 14 companies in Greater Jakarta are to strike until the government meets their demand for a 100-percent rise in the regional minimum wage, their spokesman said yesterday.
Accompanied by dozens of followers who claimed to be workers from companies based in and around the capital, Lukman told media at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute office that thousands of his colleagues from at least six companies in Tangerang, Bekasi and North Jakarta already held their first rally yesterday.
The companies whose workers went on strike yesterday were household producer PT Ganda Guna Indonesia in Tangerang, food producing firm PT Mayora in Tangerang, electronics component producer PT Singamip Jaya Electronic Enterprise in Cibinong, cotton bud producer PT Kapasindo Prima in North Jakarta, photo album producer PT Tomy Modern Industri in North Jakarta, and penmaker PT Zebra Asaba Industri in North Jakarta.
Thousands of others from two footwear manufacturers, PT Trio Putra Sanjaya Wisesa and PT Osaga Mas Utama, and household goods producer PT Golden Swallow, all in North Jakarta will join the strike in the coming days, said Lukman, a former worker at a garment factory in the Central Java capital of Semarang.
"The strike is just like an exercise for us to achieve our demands. So we haven't yet decided when we will call the strike off," he said.
The workers, grouped in a union called Komite Buruh untuk Aksi Reformasi (Labor Committee for Reform Action), or Kobar, wanted the government to double the daily minimum wage in Greater Jakarta from Rp 5,750 to Rp 11,500, he said.
"The government's plan to increase the minimum wage by 15 percent is not enough for us since the sharp increases in prices of essential commodities in the market," Lukman said.
The workers also demanded an end to military intervention in labor disputes and rallies.
Ministry
A day earlier, some 1,000 Kobar members staged a noisy protest at the manpower ministry to press similar demands.
"With the government-planned 15 percent rise, how can workers meet their basic needs?" said protest coordinator Herry. "As the U.S. dollar has been appreciating dramatically against the rupiah, many expert-oriented businesses have made a huge profit."
The workers from Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang unfurled banners, sang satirical songs and chanted slogans under the watchful eyes of dozens of security personnel in green uniforms.
The ministry's secretary-general Suwarto told the protesters' representatives that he was personally not satisfied with the 15 percent pay hike either.
"I will refer your demand to the minister and meanwhile you may continue the protest peacefully," he said.
The workers also demanded the government release labor activist Dita Sari who is imprisoned in Surabaya.
According to Lukman, Kobar is not part of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union led by Muchtar Pakpahan.
"We will set up our own labor union in the near future. We view that having more labor unions will be better for workers," he said.
He said Kobar was set up with help of students from the University of Indonesia.
On June 24, Kobar workers were unable to stage their planned massive demonstration at the University of Indonesia campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta due to the presence of hundreds of soldiers. (jun/pan)