'Minimum wage formalizes the poverty of workers'

'Minimum wage formalizes the poverty of workers'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government's minimum wage, which fails to provide workers
with sufficient means, is a legalization of labor poverty, labor
activists say.

The minimum wage of Rp 426,250 (about US$42) a month for
Jakarta, meant workers could only just survive as wages are
calculated on the basic need for food, clothing and
accommodation. Other components like health, education,
communication, transportation and recreation are ignored, the
National Front of the Struggle of Indonesian Workers said in a
statement.

"The minimum wage or provincial wage is in fact no more than
an effort to legalize labor poverty," the statement signed by the
front's chairwoman Dita Indah Sari and its secretary-general
Ilhamsyah.

Labor poverty was legalized by implicating various
institutions related to labor, and the rationalization of the
practice of our exploitive and unfair economy, the pair say.

As workers often could not survive on the minimum wage, they
have to work overtime in order to survive.

"This gives an opportunity for the employers to exploit the
workers...," Dita said.

They observed that even though the minimum wage is far from
sufficient, many employers violate it. There are also many
violations of workers' rights, such as the right to a working
social security program, maternity leave, annual leave, overtime
payments, and the right to unite to form unions.

Therefore, the activists say they were not surprised to learn
that the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) rejected
Jakarta Governor's Sutiyoso's decree to increase the minimum wage
by 38.7 percents or to Rp 591,266, starting next year.

".. it's not surprising because some employers have denied
workers' rights," Dita says.

Apindo's rejection was proof of the failure of law enforcement
here and the efforts of the government to implement what they
have decided. On the other hand, it also showed the weak
bargaining power of laborers compared to business owners.

Many businesspeople claimed that they could not afford the
38.7 percent wage increase due to financial problems.

In that case, the activists said that the employers should
prove it through an auditing process.

Apindo on Thursday said it objected to the 38.7 percent
increase and planned to file a lawsuit against Governor Sutiyoso
at the Jakarta State Administrative Court.

Sutiyoso told reporters on Friday that he was ready to face
the lawsuit. He insisted that he would not review the decree and
told the employers who could not afford the increase to file an
objection and submit their financial reports.