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