N Sumatra labourers rally to demand government cancel wage decree

A thousand workers, grouped under the United Labourers Movement to Fight Slavery (Gebrak), staged a rally on 1 December 2008 demanding the government revoke a recent joint ministerial decree allowing companies to determine minimum wages.

Minggu Saragih, coordinator of Gebrak, stated that the government should not concede to the businessmen’s requirements. He also added that other alternatives to support business would be reducing the fuel price by 40% and eliminating the bribery that businesses are forced to pay. The group threatened to conduct massive rallies if the government did not meet the demand within one month. Regarding wages, the demonstrators demanded the North Sumatra governor review the 2009 regional minimum wage which had been increased to Rp 905,000 (about US$70) from Rp 870,000. The group demanded the minimum wage be increased to Rp 2 million. Other issues raised at the rally were mass layoffs and outsourcing.

Meanwhile, the rally elicited different responses from the North Sumatra council member and the Head of North Sumatra Transmigration and Manpower Agency. Hanan Manurung, of the North Sumatra Council, supported the group’s demands and promised to deliver them to government. On the other hand Rapotan Tambunan, Head of North Sumatra Transmigration and Manpower Agency, refused to give comment on outsourcing. Regarding minimum wages, he stated that the decree has been issued so it is unlikely to be changed.