Minimum wage hikes to go ahead

Minimum wage hikes to go ahead

JAKARTA: The government will put into effect this month the planned minimum wage hikes throughout the country. At the provincial level wages will be increased by an average of 28.44 percent, with minimum wages in regencies rising by an average of 28.37 percent, an official said on Wednesday.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said that most employers throughout the country will likely accept the wage increases and only a handful of them will demand a delay.

The ministry's data shows that the highest provincial increase will be enjoyed by workers in Central Sulawesi province as their monthly wages will increase by 42.8 percent from Rp 245,000 (US$23) in 2001 to Rp 350,000 this year.

Workers in Jakarta will enjoy the highest overall minimum wage after an increase of 38.6 percent from Rp 426,250 per month last year to Rp 591,266 this year, Antara reported.

The wages in Bogor regency will be the biggest hike of any regency at 55 percent from Rp 372,000 to Rp 576,500 per month.

Tangerang workers will be happy to see that their regency has the highest overall regency minimum wage of Rp 590,000.

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) threatened to sue Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso at the Jakarta State Administrative Court last November for issuing the decree increasing the provincial minimum wage from Rp 426,250 to Rp 591,266, starting this month.

Not only did they reject the decree, they also claimed that they had never approved the increase during the meeting between labor unions, employers and officials from the Ministry of Manpower.

"In the meeting, we stuck to our proposal of Rp 490,000 per month, and didn't sign anything. The new minimum wage was decided entirely by the government and the labor unions," Anita Gizelle, from the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.

Nuwa Wea, however, said that the differences were already settled and Apindo's Jakarta branch has held back its plan to file a lawsuit against the Jakarta administration and agreed to abide by the existing regulation.

He was convinced that all provinces and regencies will apply the wage hikes as of this month, even though data at his ministry shows only 16 provinces and 16 regencies have thus far given reports on the progress. -- Antara