Employers to blame for strike wave: Board

Employers to blame for strike wave: Board

JAKARTA (JP): The National Board for Assessment of Wages
(DPPN) has blamed employers' failure to pay their workers the new
minimum wage for the current spate of labor strikes.

Board secretary L.E. Lubis denied press reports that the
strikes were the result of ambiguities in the government
regulation on the minimum wage.

Although the government's minimum wage regulation states that
the minimum wage does not include all allowances, employers have
tended to include the allowances in their workers' salaries in
order to create the illusion that they are paying the minimum
wage.

"The current wave of industrial strikes has been triggered by
employers' failure to comply with the government's minimum wage
policy," Lubis told a press conference.

He said many companies had "misinterpreted" the minimum wage
regulation and included the various allowances in their workers'
net salaries.

Dozens of strikes have occurred in Java alone since the
government's new minimum wage regulation came into effect at the
beginning of this month. Striking workers have claimed that their
employers are not complying with the new, higher wage levels.

The daily minimum wage in Jakarta and West Java has been
raised by 21 percent, from Rp 3,800 to Rp 4,600 (US$2.10); in
Central Java by 11 percent, from Rp 2,700 to Rp 3,000; and in
East Java by 23 percent, from Rp 3,000 to Rp 3,700.

Deputies of the All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI) Djoko
Daulat and Suradi Idris have said that the labor strikes,
especially those in Java, were triggered by a lack of clarity in
the government regulation.

They said last week that the regulation could be interpreted
as saying that the new minimum wage was the old salary plus all
allowances.

"This is the center of current worker protests," Djoko said.

Lubis said that many companies had deceived their workers by
adding all the allowances to their basic wages.

"Employers who play such tricks can be brought to trial on
criminal charges," he said.

Mudjianto, a member of the Association of Indonesian Employers
(Apindo), acknowledged that many labor-intensive companies in
Jakarta, West Java and East Java had intentionally added all
allowances to the basic salaries to make it appear that they had
complied with the minimum wage policy.

"Such companies should be punished," he said, adding that the
government had provided employers with ample time to prepare
themselves for the new wage levels prior to their introduction.

Before the regulation became effective, the government offered
help, including a grace period, to companies who could show that
paying the higher wages would cause them financial hardship.

Willem Bokha, a DPPN member from the All Indonesian Workers
Union (SPSI), said it should be acknowledged that, in spite of
the increase in the minimum daily wage, the level of wages in
Indonesia was still low compared with other Asian countries.

"Both the government and employers should realize that the
wage level in the country is still low and, therefore, efforts
should be made to improve workers' well-being," he said. (rms)