Bekasi want higher basic wage

Bekasi want higher basic wage

BEKASI: Hundreds of workers in Bekasi staged a rally on
Thursday to demand that the municipal administration increase the
regional minimum wage to Rp 759,000 (US$84.33) from the current
Rp 670,000.

In a hearing with the Bekasi Council, head of Bekasi branch of
the National Labor Union (SPN), Waras Wasisto, said the minimum
wage should be close to the monthly cost of living.

"A survey by the International Labor Organization in July
found that in order to lead a reasonably decent life, the cost of
living for workers in East Jakarta, including Bekasi should be 15
percent higher than the previously estimated monthly cost of
living. The basic cost of living here is Rp 740,000."

Bekasi Manpower Agency head Yoyok Sutoyo told The Jakarta Post
the administration had already proposed a hike of up to Rp
710,000, Rp 1,000 less than Jakarta's minimum wage for 2005.

Agus, a worker, said that the minimum wage in Bekasi should be
higher than Jakarta's, because "80 percent of the revenue is
derived from the industrial sector. The workers have contributed
a lot to the administration". -- JP