State firms' employees demand minimum wage

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Thousands of workers of state-owned oil palm plantation PT Perkebunan Nusantara II in Tanjungmorawa, 20 kilometers southeast of the city, held a demonstration at the North Sumatra governor's office, demanding the management pay their wages in accordance with the province's minimum wage regulations.

The demonstrators called on the governor to take action against the management for having paid them far below the province's minimum wage.

"We are no longer willing to endure the state-owned company's human rights abuses. The government must take tough measures against the management and against their alleged corrupt and collusive practices," said Josem Ginting, chairman of the company's Independent Labor Union.

He said the management had infringed on the province's minimum wage regulations and had unilaterally set the wages of workers.

"According to the governor's 2001 decree, the monthly minimum wage in the province is Rp 345,000 (US$34.5) but most workers are paid just Rp 279,000," he said.

Josem said the management had yet to recognize their labor union so the two sides had never actually negotiated a collective labor agreement as was required by law.

"We will continue to stay at the governor's office until the management meets our demands," he said, citing most workers have yet to be registered in the compulsory social security insurance scheme (jamsostek).

He admitted the management had provided housing for the workers "but the houses are really not better than military barracks and the workers are not equipped with labor safety tools in their workplaces so workers are frequently exposed to accidents."

Reni Aziz, director of human resources development of Perkebunan Nusantara II, regretted the demonstration, saying the workers should have staged it at the company's headquarters.

He said the workers' take-home pay was between Rp 400,000 and Rp 500,000 because they were also given eating, transportation and family allowances.

"So, there is no reason for the workers to protest the company's remuneration system because their monthly pay is far higher than the monthly minimum wage," he said.

According to the law, minimum wages exclude all allowances and annual bonuses.