Govt delays decision on minimum wage
Govt delays decision on minimum wage
JAKARTA (JP): The government will not announce increases in
the minimum wage level until the end of January, Minister of
Manpower Abdul Latief said yesterday.
While not giving reasons for the delay, Latief said
representatives of the government, workers' unions and employers
were still deliberating on the size of increases.
Last year's minimum wage hikes were announced at the beginning
of January. The 1996 increases over Indonesia's 27 provinces
averaged 10.63 percent.
The daily minimum wage level for workers in Jakarta is
currently Rp 5,200 and the monthly level at Rp 156,000.
The Federation of the All Indonesian Workers Union, the only
union recognized by the government, last month said it was
pushing for a 16 percent increase in minimum wage levels.
Such an increase would bring the minimum wage levels closer to
what is officially defined as the minimum physical requirements,
or the amount of money deemed sufficient to purchase a daily food
intake of 3,000 calories for an unmarried person.
The proposed increase will also cover inflation, which last
year reached 6.7 percent.
Employers' representatives have been unclear on what they
consider the ideal increase, but the Indonesian Textile
Association complained last year's increase, and the changes in
wage regulations -- requiring companies to calculate wages on the
basis of 30 days a month -- were too demanding.
Latief said once minimum wage increases are agreed to and
announced, employers would have more than three months to prepare
before the increases become effective on April 1.
He declined to speculate on the size of the increase and
whether it would be higher than the average of 10.63 percent
granted last year. "Let us all be patient," he said.
The government has received proposals from both unions and
employer representatives. These proposals were now being
discussed at the National Wage Council, he said.
He said the method of setting wages was "very democratic" and
that the Indonesian model was now being adopted by other
countries.
Earlier in the day, Minister Latief told reporters at the
State Palace that the government would not review the wage
regulation requiring companies to calculate workers' wages on a
monthly basis.
The regulation essentially means daily laborers are paid for
the Sundays they do not work.
"I've heard the expression `no work no pay', but workers are
entitled to their Sunday's rest. They have to be paid," he said.
He recalled he had already been sued by some companies at the
State Administrative Court on the matter and won the case.
"The government remains consistent in protecting the rights of
workers," he said.
The government permits companies not to pay the minimum wages
under certain special conditions such as financial difficulties.
In 1996, according to Latief, 365 out of 44,565 companies
applied for exemption. Of those who applied, 269 were approved.
They include 203 garment and textile companies, 28 shoe
producers, 11 toy manufacturers and three leather companies.
Latief disclosed that the number of workers' strikes last year
increased by 26 percent to 901, comprising 414 strikes for
"normative" rights (demanding employers to meet their legal
obligations), and 487 for "non-normative" rights.
Most encouraging about last year's strike figures was that
there were fewer strikes over demands for "normative" rights,
Latief noted.
This meant greater compliance by employers, he said.
Most of the strikes were demands for even greater improvement
than the minimum required by regulations, he said. (01/emb)