State firms' employees demand minimum wage

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.