Workers want union leaders to step down
Workers want union leaders to step down
JAKARTA (JP): More than 200 workers and labor activists staged
a protest at the headquarters of the All-Indonesia Workers Union
Federation (FSPSI), demanding an increase in the minimum wage,
the resignation of the federation's leaders and lower prices for
basic commodities.
The protesters, representing 13 labor unions under the
federation umbrella, called for a 20 percent increase in the
minimum monthly wage.
They also insisted that FSPSI chairman Datuk Bagindo and
secretary-general Andi Hisbuldin step down following the union's
failure to channel workers' aspirations.
"Both (Datuk and Andi) should resign from their posts before
workers come here to force them (to step down)," Aleksander
Sinaga, who is chairman of FSPSI's Jakarta branch office, said.
"Both do not deserve to occupy their current jobs because they
have betrayed us."
The workers blamed the two for initially endorsing the
government's decision early last month not to raise the minimum
monthly wage across the board.
FSPSI recently revoked its endorsement of the government's
decision and demanded a hike in the minimum wage by at least 20
percent.
Minister of Manpower Theo L. Sambuaga issued Decree No. 49 in
March stipulating the minimum wage in the 1998/1999 fiscal year
would remain the same as the previous year.
The last wage increase was announced in January 1997 and took
effect on April 1, 1997, with the government raising wages in all
27 provinces by an average of 10.07 percent.
The minimum monthly wage for a worker in Greater Jakarta
currently stands at Rp 172,000 (US$21.50).
The industrial zone of Batam, including the islands under the
Batam Development Authority, has the highest minimum wage of Rp
235,000, while Yogyakarta has the lowest at Rp 106,500.
Unfair
Ali Samioen, chairman of the tourist industry union, lambasted
the decree, saying that the government had been unfair in its
treatment of workers.
"Why has the government raised civil servants' wages by 15
percent while the minimum monthly wage is not increased," he
said.
"How will workers survive the economic crisis on the current
wages while the prices of basic commodities are expected to rise
because of the government's plan to raise oil prices and
electricity rates?"
Hartono, chairman of the plantation and agriculture sector
union, urged FSPSI not to attend the International Labor
Organization (ILO) meeting, scheduled to be held in Geneva in
June 4, 1998, in order to attract international attention to the
worsening labor conditions in the country.
He claimed that at previous ILO meetings, federation delegates
were often compelled to temper their statements on the labor
situation here as their participation in the meeting was
sponsored by the government.
Djufni Ashari, chairman of the pharmaceutical and health
sector union, warned that workers would join students to demand
lower prices of basic commodities and reform if the government
refused to raise the minimum monthly wage.
"The government should take this warning into consideration
because workers have the potential to disrupt public order and
stability in urban areas, especially in the capital Jakarta," he
warned.
FSPSI deputy chairman Wilhelmus Bokha hailed the workers'
efforts to seek an increase in the minimum wage and to ostracize
those who had no commitment to fight for workers' welfare.
"Workers have no one to fight for them because the government
has been on the side of employers," he said. "And those who have
no commitment to improving workers' welfare should leave this
labor organization." (rms)