Bandung workers get 9.6 percent raise

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung

Despite workers' demand for a 100-percent salary raise following the skyrocketing prices of basic necessities due to the fuel price hikes, the West Java administration did not bow to the demand, raising workers' minimum wage by less than 10 percent.

West Java provincial administration spokesman, Yanto Subiyanto, said on Monday that a decree for the 2006 minimum wage was signed by Governor Danny Setiawan on Oct. 28 after receiving the recommendation from the West Java Wage Council. It will be effective on Jan. 1, 2006.

In the decree, it cites the new minimum wage in the province at Rp 447,654 (US$44,76) per month, or a 9.6 percent raise from the previous wage of Rp 408,260 in 2005. The increase is below the inflation rate between January and October this year (15.65 percent).

"The decision on the new minimum wage is quite consistent with the recommendation from the West Java Wage Council, comprising representatives from the associations of employers, experts, labor unions and the government (manpower office)," Yanto said on Monday.

He said that unlike the 2005 minimum wage, which was based on survey of 43 basic necessities, the 2006 wage was based on a survey toward 46 basic necessities to ensure decent living in the province's municipalities and regencies.

The new minimum wage, he added, also considered economic growth and worker productivity.

The new wage, which was far below the workers' expectations, was immediately questioned by labor activists.

"When was the survey held? Before or after the fuel price increases? How come the amount is so low," asked Nyoman Ngidep, chairman of National Workers Union in West Java.

Based on the union's survey of living costs after the fuel price increases, workers -- who live outside Bandung city where prices are relatively cheaper compared to those in the provincial capital -- have to spend up to Rp 642,000, including for meals, transportation and basic necessities.

Nyoman predicted the "inhumane" new minimum wage would prompt a heated response from eight million workers at the nearly 20,000 companies in the province, upon their return from the Idul Fitri holiday.

Moreover, he said, the new wage would be used as a reference for the province's municipal and regency administrations to set minimum wages in their respective areas.

He also questioned the independence of the council and alleged that they put businesspeoples' interests higher than workers, with a hope that low wages would lure more investors to the province.

Last week, the Jakarta administration also announced the new minimum wage (Rp 819,100 for 2006, an increase of 15 percent from the current Rp 711,843). The increase, however, is much lower than the Rp 1,203,015 demanded by labor unions.