Workers urge Sutiyoso to annul ruling on wage hike

Workers urge Sutiyoso to annul ruling on wage hike

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Around 70 protesters grouped in the United Workers Alliance have
demanded that the City Council revoke Governor Sutiyoso's
decision to raise the provincial minimum wage to Rp 711,843
(US$79). They also said there were legal flaws in the ruling,
which was issued two weeks ago.

"The ruling is one-sided and did not comply with the results
of the latest survey jointly conducted by the tripartite group.
The survey says that our minimum cost of living (KHM) is Rp
759,532," the group said in its statement.

The workers met with councillors sitting on the public welfare
commission and later staged a rally in front of City Hall to
convey the same demand.

The demand was based on a circular sent by the minister of
manpower to governors, saying that the increase in the minimum
wage to take effect in January must be the same as or higher than
the minimum cost of living.

The cost of living survey was conducted by representatives of
the administration, employers and workers in five Jakarta
municipalities in July.

The alliance also claimed the Gubernatorial Decree was
repugnant to the Constitution and ran contrary to the Manpower
Law (No. 13/2003) as both of these stipulate that every citizen
is entitled to enjoy a reasonable standard of living.

"Moreover, the representatives of the labor unions on the
Jakarta Wages Council did not agree to the hike," it said.

Fourteen representatives of the administration and the
employers on the wages council approved the hike while the seven
labor representatives were deemed to have abstained after they
walked out during the vote.

Bellyonardi, the deputy chairman of the wages council, said
Sutiyoso signed the decree on Nov. 5, although the council was
still discussing on the hike on that day.

He added that even when the wages council met with Minister of
Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris and Sutiyoso on Nov. 12,
both were still talking about the increase.

Fahmi had been asked to intervene in the matter after the
wages council failed to reach a consensus amid a protracted
dispute between the representatives of the employers and labor
unions.

"During the Nov. 12 meeting, the administration and employers
had steered the talks toward Rp 711,843, or a 6 percent increase
from this year's Rp 671,550," Bellyonardi said.

The alliance also called on the government to end the red tape and
illegal fees imposed on companies operating here. It claimed that
the illegal fees could amount to up to 20 percent of the total
production costs of a company, much higher than labor costs,
which only amounted to between 5 percent and 7 percent.

Should the administration decline to revoke its ruling, the
workers threatened to stage a massive rally early next month.

However, Sutiyoso insisted that his administration would not
annul the decision.

"I will not revoke it. If they think the ruling contains legal
flaws, they can challenge it in court," he told The Jakarta Post
and TempoInteraktif.com.