Dini M., Surabaya – Around 500 laborers representing East Java's Indonesian Laborers Union Alliance Congress (KASBI) has urged the government to annul the four-ministerial decree limiting laborers' wage from exceeding the rate of economic growth.

Their demand was conveyed at a demonstration in front of the East Java provincial administration office yesterday. "The joint decree prevents laborers from getting decent wages," complained Mahfudz, coordinator of the protests.

According to Mahfudz, businesses will use the decree as an excuse for not paying the laborers what they deserve. In fact, he said, it was the impact of the crisis which led to a drop in the prices of daily commodities, and resulted in a decline in people's purchasing power.