Next wages meeting delayed after deadlock

Next wages meeting delayed after deadlock

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta's provincial tripartite wages council failed to reach a
compromise on the planned increase of the 2005 provincial minimum
wage (UMP) on Monday.

Seven representatives of the workers association threatened to
walk out if the other 14 members of the council -- seven
representatives of the employers association and seven from the
city administration -- insisted on putting it to the vote.

"The meeting will be suspended for two or three days following
our failure to reach a consensus," Wajis Mangkona, a member of
the tripartite council representing the workers association, told
The Jakarta Post.

It was the council's second failure to reach an agreement
after Thursday's meeting, which went on until early Friday, ended
with no decision being made.

Wajis claimed that representatives of the employers
association and the administration insisted on voting on their
proposed wage hike of Rp 711,000 (US$78.13), which is 6 percent
more than this year's minimum wage of Rp 671,550. In 2003, the
minimum wage was Rp 631,000.

"We opposed their proposed increase because it is far below
the minimum cost of living in Jakarta, which is Rp 759,000, as
stated by the government. The wage increase must be equal or
slightly above the minimum cost of living, not less. That's why
we are insisting on a bigger raise," Wajis said.

The government-estimated minimum cost of living is, however,
less than that calculated by the Indonesian Federation of Metal
Industry Unions (FSPMI) after it surveyed the prices of 43 basic
commodities at 14 traditional markets. The FSPMI estimates that a
worker needs at least Rp 968,134 per month to survive.

The workers have been demanding an increase up to Rp 1.2
million per month.

Indonesian Employers Association chairman Sofjan Wanandi said
earlier that employers would tolerate an increase as long as it
did not exceed the inflation rate in Jakarta, which is predicted
to be around 6.5 percent this year.

He advised the workers association that employers would not be
able to meet the workers' demand.

The Jakarta minimum wage hike will be the yardstick by which
industrial areas Tangerang and Bekasi decide their wage
increases.

The city manpower agency also reminded the wages council that
it must accommodate the interests of both workers and employers
to ensure that companies survive and provide employment.

Data from the agency shows that around 25,000 private
companies in the city employ about four million people.