Bandung workers get 9.6 percent raise
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.