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)