Workers, students protest fuel hike

Workers, students protest fuel hike

TANGERANG: Hundreds of workers and students staged on
Wednesday a joint rally at the Tangerang Municipal Council to
protest the central government's plan to increase fuel prices as
well as to demand a Rp 735,000 minimum wage for 2005.

Mikad, a student at Tangerang Syeh Yusuf University (Unis),
said people across the country should oppose the fuel hike.

"We have been living in such poverty since the monetary crisis
in 1997. By increasing fuel prices again, the government is being
cruel to the people," he said, adding that there was no reason
for the government to raise fuel prices.

Meanwhile, Ngadinah, coordinator of the Confederation of
Independent Labor Unions (GSBI) said 93 percent of the country's
workers were still living below the poverty line and that
increasing fuel prices would greatly affect them.

She also claimed that Tangerang's 2005 minimum wage for
workers of Rp 693,000 was no longer adequate, as it did not meet
the minimum living cost. Although the GSBI was demanding a rise
to Rp 735,000, she said this was still inadequate. --JP