Jakarta – More than a hundred Finance Ministry honorarium workers held a rally Wednesday in front of the ministry offices in Central Jakarta, demanding the ministry provide 6,000 of them with permanent positions.

"They've worked for between three and 27 years at the ministry, but since April 2007 the ministry has started to terminate their contracts," the Jakarta chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), acting as the workers' lawyers, said in a statement.

According to Government Regulation No. 48/2005, all honorarium workers who have passed the requirements to become civil servants must be hired by government offices.

LBH Jakarta urged the Finance Ministry to hire workers who have passed the requirements, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to ensure government offices hire all honorarium workers as civil servants by 2009.

It also said government offices should restructure their recruitment system "to be more transparent". "Many honorarium workers work harder than civil servants while receiving lower salaries. And by being honorarium workers, they never know whether they can keep working," said LBH Jakarta.