Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Thousands of workers blockaded the east gate of the Padalarang toll road in Bandung on Wednesday in protest against a recent decision on the minimum wage.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to disperse the workers, who arrived by motorcycles and pickup trucks and tried to enter the toll road connecting Jakarta and the West Java capital city.

A queue of vehicles stretched back one kilometer as the protesters, members of the Worker Class Alliance and the Alliance of Bandung Worker Unions, quarreled with police for almost two hours.

The workers finally left the scene and joined fellow protesters at a rally at Sate building, the West Java governor's office.

Hundreds of police officers stood guard at the building, preventing the workers from entering the complex. At one point, officers and workers pushed and punched each other.

The workers, who are members of various unions, including the National Workers Union (SPN), the Indonesian Metalworkers Federation and the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), from dozens of factories in the West Bandung area, have rejected both a joint ministerial decree on the minimum wage and the amount of the provincial minimum wage.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan has drawn criticism for setting the 2009 minimum monthly wage at Rp 628,191 (US$55), an increase of 10.5 percent on this year's wage.

The amount is not in line with the current costs of living, the workers said during the rally, which entered its second day.

Bawit Umar of the Bandung SPSI demanded the recently installed governor step down over his failure to fulfill his promise to increase workers' prosperity.

"He (Heryawan) has broken his promise to increase people's wealth. We should change leadership," Bawit said in his speech.

He said the workers had little faith that regencies and municipalities would increase their minimum wages by 10.5 percent as the joint decree allowed companies to increase wages by the same amount as the current rate of economic growth, or 6 percent.

Sudaryanto from the Working Class Alliance called on workers to boycott next year's general elections if the government failed to revoke the joint decree.

"Politically we have the right to select leaders who struggle for workers' prosperity, but we see many opportunistic leaders who have exploited workers' issues as a political commodity," Sudaryanto said.

Asep Jamaludin of the Cimahi SPN said some union representatives had met the governor at his official residence on Tuesday night to voice their demands, but left without satisfaction.

"Heryawan did not have the guts to make a written statement to reject the joint decree," Jamaludin said. "He even refused to increase the minimum wage by more."