Achmad Faisal, Surabaya – Thousands of workers from the PT Maspion Group in Surabaya, Sidoarjo and Gresik, had their wage cut over the weekend after the East Java High Court won the case filed by the Association of Indonesian Employers (Apindo) regarding a 2008 governor decree on the province's 2009 city/regency minimum wage (UMK).

The workers found out about the Rp 50,000-a-month cut after receiving their fortnightly wages on Saturday. While the company was previously paying wages according to the minimum wage decree – Rp 948,500 for Surabaya, Rp 971,200 for Gresik and Rp 955,000 or Sidoarjo – now it is paying its workers an average of Rp 905,500 per month in the three regions.

"We're not cutting the wages. We're just implementing the law," PT Maspion Group's human resources manager, Adi Chandra, said on Saturday. With the higher court verdict, Adi said, his company could not apply a UMK of Rp 948,500 a month as stipulated in the governor decree, and had decided to apply the one previously agreed by the provincial payment body. He added that if the governor's appeal to the Supreme Court won the court's support, his company would reimburse the unpaid wages.

Adi, also a member of the payment body representing Apindo, said the association was not pushing its other members to do the same. "They are free to decide whether they will keep using the governor's decree as a reference, or follow the way PT Maspion pays its workers."

Coordinator of the Association of Indonesian Workers' (SPSI) Maspion unit, Sudiyono, said the workers were forced to accept the new wage because they needed the money to support their families. "What will we eat if we do not accept it?" Sudiyono asked.

He said his association had tried to protest the company management's policy by organizing a small rally, discussion and filing a complaint to the local manpower agency, but without success.