Agnes S. Jayakarna, Surabaya – Workers in East Java have demanded transparency and fairness from the provincial administration in the decision on the provincial minimum wage, saying any decision would affect their livelihoods.

The provincial administration is currently in the process of deciding on the 2010 minimum wage. To do this, the administration is using figures recommended by all the municipalities and regencies in the province.

Protests have been voiced, however, with workers claiming many of the recommended figures were not decided in a fair mechanism.

"There were at least two mistakes in the process of deciding the minimum wage," Jamaludin, the East Java coordinator of the Alliance of Laborers in Struggle (ABM), said Thursday.

He added the figures recommended by the municipalities and regencies had not been decided on in a transparent way.

He claimed the municipal and regency administrations in question had replaced the heads of their respective employment agencies prior to formulating a minimum wage.

"We're concerned that the process will eventually lead to a minimum wage that is not in the best interests of workers," Jamaludin said.

He added many of the municipal and regency administrations had not taken into account the workers' interests and aspirations in deciding their minimum wages.

Pujianto, the East Java coordinator of the Federation of the Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI), said the process of coming up with a minimum wage figure was rife with political interests.

He claimed this meant the figures recommended by the municipal and regency administrations neither reflected nor recognized workers' living costs.

In addition, Pujianto went on, there was also manipulation in deciding on the recommended figures.

He claimed many of the minimum wage's components had been valued at less than their actual costs. As a result, the final figures from the process were also lower than the ones expected by workers.

"Based on the cost of living, the fair monthly wage for a single person living in Surabaya is Rp 1,350,000," Pujianto said.

"But the payment body only recommended a figure of Rp 1,031,500 to the mayor, who later recommended it to the governor." He said the payment body's decision had hurt workers and dashed their hopes for bettering themselves.