Central Java Workers Demand 2027 Provincial Minimum Wage of Rp3.5 Million

SEMARANG — Hundreds of workers affiliated with the Central Java Workers Alliance (ABJaT) staged a demonstration outside the Central Java Governor’s Office in Semarang on Thursday (5 November 2026). They urged the government to set the 2027 provincial and regency/municipal minimum wages at a level that meets 100 per cent of decent living needs (KHL).

ABJaT staged the demonstration because the provincial minimum wage for the following year is usually set by 21 November at the latest. ABJaT coordinator Aulia Hakim said government data from the Manpower Ministry, the National Economic Council, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Agency (DPMPTSP) indicated that a wage meeting the KHL benchmark should be Rp3.5 million a month.

The current provincial minimum wage in Central Java is Rp2.3 million. “That means there is a very wide gap. We did not come up with that figure of Rp3.5 million a month independently as workers. The government itself says that the KHL in Central Java is Rp3.5 million,” Aulia told journalists during the demonstration.

He added that ABJaT was also calling on the Central Java provincial government to set a provincial sectoral minimum wage (UMSP).

“Under the Job Creation Law, existing sectoral wages were removed. That is why we are asking for five per cent as the most appropriate UMSP figure,” he said.

Aulia hoped the governor would repeat the 7.28 per cent increase in the provincial minimum wage set for 2026. He also urged the governor to expand the areas covered by regency/municipal sectoral minimum wages (UMSK).

“In 2025, only two regencies or municipalities — Jepara Regency and Semarang City — applied the UMSK. The governor has since designated five areas, which shows progress. I hope sectoral wage coverage will be expanded further, perhaps to all 35 regencies and municipalities,” Aulia said.

Aulia said the central government had yet to issue the formula for calculating the 2027 provincial and regency/municipal minimum wages. He urged it to publish the formula promptly, saying it was important to determine the steps labour unions would take.

“The government must release the wage-setting regulations as soon as possible. It cannot be left like this,” he said.