Union leader seeks 15% wage increase

JAKARTA (JP): A senior union leader is urging the government to raise minimum wage levels across the country by an average of 15 percent next year, Antara reported yesterday.

Wilhemus Bokha, deputy chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation, said that a 15 percent increase would bring the minimum wage levels in most regions to the minimum subsistence level, taking into account this year's inflation.

Bokha pointed out that the average official minimum wage is still only 92.5 percent of the minimum physical requirement, which is calculated on the basis of the minimum calorie intake required for a worker's subsistence.

The government usually sets the new minimum wage levels for all 27 provinces in Indonesia after consultations with representatives from employers and workers. The increases are announced in December or January, and come into force in April.

The minimum wage level in Jakarta is currently Rp 5,200 (US$2.25).

The government has a mandate, under the Guidelines of State Policies drawn up in 1993, to bring the minimum wage levels up to the minimum physical requirement by 1998 at the latest.

The director general for industrial relations and labor standards at the Ministry of Manpower, Suwarto, declined to disclose any target for the increase in minimum wages next year, saying that it was to be discussed with employers and workers.

"Let's just pray that there will be an increase," Suwarto was quoted by Antara as saying. He pointed out that the government still has two years before the 1998 deadline.

The minimum wage increases have been less in recent years amid increasing warnings from employers that too-rapid increases could render firms less competitive against foreign companies and put them out of business altogether.

This year, salaries rose by an average of 10.63 percent, compared to 18.65 percent in 1995, 30 percent in 1994 and 17.7 in 1993.

Both Bokha and Suwarto were speaking on Monday after taking part in a consultative meeting on salaries.

Addressing the meeting on behalf of Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, Suwarto said the question of salaries is not only important to the welfare of the people, but also to the political stability of the country.

"Had we not consistently raised the minimum wages and strengthened the position of workers, the July 27 riot could have provoked workers to move, creating an even worse situation," Suwarto said. He was referring to the unrest in Central Jakarta in which the government said four people were killed.

Suwarto pointed out that the number of labor disputes over workers' pay in Indonesia has declined in recent years. The few disputes that did occur in the past year were mostly over transport and food allowances, he said. (emb)