ID Nugroho, Surabaya – Workers and activists in East Java have joined forces with other provinces in opposition to the joint ministerial decree on minimum wages, which they say violates the 2003 Labor Law.

Unionists from numerous trade unions and activists from NGOs providing legal assistance for workers were preparing for massive labor rallies and demonstrations to press the provincial government to reject the joint decree, which, they said, if passed would bring suffering to workers and their families.

"Next (this) week, more than 10,000 workers, unionists and activists from industrial zones in Surabaya, Gresik, Pasuruan and Sidoarjo will take to the streets and stage demonstrations at public offices to warn the government and employers of the joint decree's negative impacts on workers and to demand they ignore the decree, which sets minimum wages in the province and regencies," chairman of the provincial chapter of the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union Suprart told The Jakarta Post in Surabaya over the weekend.

All preparations and financing have been completed and the labor rallies are scheduled to start on Nov. 19, he added.

Massive labor rallies and demonstrations protesting the law have been staged in Jakarta, and provincial capitals Bandung, Medan and Semarang.

The joint ministerial decree, which was issued by the minister of manpower and transmigration, the home minister, the trade minister and the industry minister on Oct. 22, 2008, stipulates that monthly minimum wages are set by companies through a bipartite of employers and workers, and fixed based on economic growth in the respective regions.

The decree has also sparked strong opposition from the Malang regency administration, which has said it would file a lawsuit against the four ministers with the State Administrative Court if the provincial government enacts the decree.

The governor was scheduled this week to issue a decree hiking the minimum wage in the province that would take effect on Jan. 1, 2009.

Suprart said that it was in line with the labor law that minimum wages be debated and determined by the provincial wage council as part of a tripartite dialog and that it was the government's responsibility to protect workers' interests and that any adjustment to minimum wages be based on consumer prices and national economic growth.

He also said the workers were suspicious of the government's move to fight for employers' economic interests in line with the global financial crisis, which it said recently would not greatly effect Indonesia's economy.

The workers in Surabaya have proposed an 11 percent hike in the monthly minimum wage to Rp 905,000 from the current Rp 805,000.

Chairman of the regency branch of the Indonesian Workers Union (SPI) in Pasuruan Sukiyat said the joint ministerial decree was not in line with the labor law and that minimum wages should be based on costs of basic human needs and the inflation rate.

He said the government and employers were using the decree to take advantage of workers' ignorance and that many employers had taken advantage of the work force surplus by lowering wages.

The provincial legislative council called on provincial, regency and municipal governments to set their monthly minimum wages in accordance with basic human needs and the inflation rate.

Chairman of Commission E on labor and social affairs at the provincial legislature Rofi'I Munawar said the governor had been recommended in a series of meetings not to lower the minimum wage below what a person needed to cover their basic needs.

He said the council would summon the governor if he did not act on the recommendation. He said the massive rallies and demonstrations would affect workers but to a greater extent employers and could jeopardize the political stability in the province.