Latief criticized for minimum wage U-turn
Latief criticized for minimum wage U-turn
JAKARTA (JP): A network of non-governmental organizations
yesterday criticized Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief over his
decision to allow 215 companies to defer paying the new minimum
wages.
"We are disappointed with the decision," the Network of 10
NGOs, as the group is called, said in a statement.
"We find the reason (for the decision) hard to accept," the
network's leader, Binsar Effendi Hutabarat, said in the
statement.
The minister was not being consistent with his own policy,
which called for raising minimum wages while simultaneously
allowing 215 companies to defer paying them, Binsar said.
Latief announced this week that the government has exempted
215 companies from the minimum wage regulation because they were
experiencing financial difficulties.
According to Binsar, the exemptions were granted mostly to
companies in the textile and garment, furniture and handicraft
sectors. The 215 companies employ as many as 30,000 workers.
The government on April 1 raised the daily minimum wage levels
in 27 provinces by an average of more than 10 percent. At the
same time, a new ruling compels companies to calculate the wages
of workers, both permanent and temporary, on the basis of 30
working days in a month.
This is the largest exemption ever granted by the government
in any given year.
Informed sources said most companies had no difficulties in
raising their wages, but they strongly objected to the new method
of calculating wages.
Wilhelmus Bhoka, deputy chairman of the Federation of the All
Indonesian Workers Union (FSPSI), told The Jakarta Post that he
believed the decision was taken after observing all procedures.
"The regulation allows companies to defer paying the minimum
wages if they cannot afford it. If all the procedures have been
fulfilled, it is then within the power of the minister to grant
the reprieve," Bhoka said.
"What, then, can we do?" he asked.
He added that objection would have to come from the respective
trade unions rather than the federation. "So far, no one has
stated its objection," he noted.
A source in the Ministry of Manpower said the FSPSI was
consulted by the government before the deferment was granted. The
source said the deferment is only given for a period of one year.
Without the deferment, these companies would go bankrupt and
close down. "Then the workers will be out of job," he added.
The Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) questioned the
authority of the government in granting the exemptions.
SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan said any deferment should be
negotiated between management and workers and not between
management and the government.
Instead, the government had taken a unilateral decision in
granting the exemption, he said. (16)