Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Truck drivers were back at work in Medan's Belawan port but only halfheartedly, saying they actually wanted to strike longer since the central government only promised to meet one of their many demands.
Many drivers were simply wandering around the port Tuesday, but head of Belawan port's sea transport section, Bambang T., said activities had returned to normal. "No more shipments are piling up in the port," he said.
But the drivers are not happy. Head of the Belawan Truck Drivers Association, M. Ratbaini, said that apart from demanding that the government revoke the controversial value-added tax (VAT) levied on land transportation, the strike also intended to push the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) there to raise drivers' wages.
"Our salary is still below the minimum wage, at an average of Rp 500,000 (US$55) a month. The amount depends on the scale of orders the company receives," said Ratbaini. In Medan, the minimum wage is Rp 737,794 per month.
Truck drivers in four of the country's major seaports in Jakarta, North Sumatra, East and Central Java went back to work Tuesday after going on strike Monday. Authorities said the delay in shipments cost the nation around US$80 million.
They ended the strike after officials from Organda reached an agreement with the central government.
Hurt by high gasoline prices, the strikers had demanded that VAT levied on land transportation in 2003 be revoked. They said the tax breached an earlier law exempting them from paying VAT. Transportation operators also demanded an end to illegal levies imposed on them by unscrupulous port officials.
Organda chairman Murphy Hutagalung said owners and drivers of trailers were confident the government would fulfill its pledge to revise Ministerial Decree No. 527/2003 which imposed VAT on trailers and trucks transporting containers to the ports.
A truck driver in Belawan, Supriadi, was not convinced his quality of life would improve. The 42-year-old driver said his Rp 550,000 monthly income was not sufficient to support his family.
"I feel ashamed since I regularly borrow money from my neighbors. But I have no option since my monthly salary is not enough to feed my family and finance my children's school expenses," said the father of five who has been a driver for nine years.
Ratbaini said that Organda did not care much about the fate of their drivers in Belawan. Organda has promised to raise the drivers' wages and their assistants since September last year but has not done so.
"We want Organda to be fair to us if their demands in the strike have been heeded by the government, then now, it's our turn to take up our demands with Organda. We want Organda to keep its promises. If Organda fails to keep its promises, this time the drivers will go on strike," Ratbaini said.
Secretary of Organda's Belawan chapter, Zulkifly, said the companies paid drivers a salary above the minimum wage but when asked for details on the amount, he said he could not recall it as the data was in his office. "We pay attention to the drivers'