Wage ruling upsets union

Wage ruling upsets union

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta chapter of the All-Indonesia Workers
Union is predicting trouble on a number of points in the new
minimum wage regulations, scheduled to come into effect next
month.

The head of the garment, textile and leather sector of the
Jakarta chapter, Helmy Salim, told The Jakarta Post over the
weekend that he had received notice from senior workers that they
will be demanding raises to match those granted junior workers.

"Many companies have raised the salaries of their senior
workers by only between Rp 50 to Rp 100, while the minimum wage
increase is set at Rp 800," he said, referring to last year's
wage increase from Rp 3,800 to Rp 4,600.

The government has set a new regional minimum salary between
Rp 4,600 and Rp 5,200, effective as of next month.

Complaint

Helmy said he had recently received a complaint from 13
workers of an electronics company in West Jakarta, about what
they consider discrimination against senior workers.

"This is the latest of nine cases we have settled so far,"
Helmy said. He said there are many more such cases which go
unreported.

Helmy said that based on past experiences, the implementation
of the new minimum salary will be problematic, "especially
because many companies still haven't increased their workers'
wages for various reasons."

"We are not talking about companies whose salary standards
already meet or surpass the minimum," Helmy said.

The new salary increase will also raise the problem of dealing
with freelance and permanent workers, Helmy said, saying this may
cause unrest among workers.

Freelance workers will get Rp 5,200 a day for 26 working days,
but permanent workers getting the Rp 156,000 of minimal monthly
salary have no clear idea how many days their salary covers.

"Does that mean that the workers must work on Sundays without
payment?" he asked.

The current wage system does not recognize the difference
between freelance and permanent workers as far as wages are
concerned; everyone is paid on a daily basis.

"It looks simple, but it is important in the calculation of
worker's overtime salary," he said, adding that in his sector,
workers usually work at least 15 days overtime a month.

To solve this problem, the government should introduce a
clear-cut wage system to accompany any increases, in order to
anticipate possible disputes, he said. (03)