All textile factories obey wage regulation: Official

JAKARTA (JP): A Ministry of Manpower official said yesterday all textile and garment factory owners in Jakarta are obeying the government regulation regarding minimum wages for their workers.

"All textile and garment factory owners in Jakarta are paying their workers' salaries on the basis of the minimum wage standards set by the government," the Director General of Training and Productivity of the Ministry of Manpower, Andi Sangadji Rahman, said.

The regional daily minimum wage for the greater Jakarta area was raised from Rp 3,000 to Rp 3,800 in January.

In many regions, including Jakarta and West Java, the minimum wages are now close to meeting the workers' minimum physical requirements, which are calculated on the basis of local consumer index prices.

Under the present regulation enacted in 1969, a company owner who does not pay his workers the required minimum wage faces a maximum of three months in jail, and/or a fine of Rp 100,000.

Andi pledged that the government will continue to closely monitor the implementation of the regulation in relation to the workers' basic rights.

Andi said that the different cultural backgrounds of foreign investors and the local employees in the textile industry have often triggered friction.

"Sometimes the two parties have different judgments on menstruation leave, or even the way orders are given to employees has often offended the feelings of the workers," Andi said.

Meanwhile, the head of the Jakarta Chapter of the Indonesian Textile Association, Hariyadi B. Sukamdani, asked the association members, the ministry officials and the All Indonesian Workers Union, to keep it in mind that the increase of the minimum wages to fulfill the standard is not the only important thing.

"The increase in wages should boost the workers' productivity," he said.

Export value

He said the clothing industry in Hong Kong has 127,824 workers but its export value reached HK$ 71.8 billion (US$8.6 billion) in 1993, while Indonesia, with about three million workers could only generate $6 billion in 1993.

Hariyadi said that Indonesia should learn from Hong Kong in order to maintain its competitive edge in the international market.

"Hong Kong imposes no minimum wages standard but has managed to become a number one garment exporter in the world," he said.

Richard K.Y. Liu, a Senior Consultant of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, said that workers' wages in his country are determined purely on the basis of supply and demand.

"Over 90 percent of the industry's direct workers, such as cutters, sewers, and pressers are paid on a piece-rate system," he said.

Yo Lie, an owner of a garment factory in Tangerang, 20 kilometers west of here, said that most Indonesian workers have refused to work under the Hong Kong piece-rate system.

"They seem afraid to work under such a system," he said. (mas)