Jakarta – Around 15,000 workers from the Congress Alliance of Indonesian Labor Unions (KASBI) took to the streets across Jakarta on Monday, urging the government to immediately implement appropriate minimum wage for workers.

The rally started in front of the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle in Central Jakarta at around 9 a.m., from which the workers then marched to the State Palace. "Thousands of workers have come together at the HI traffic circle," said KASBI chairwoman Nining Elitos in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by tempo.co.

According to Nining, the workers were not only from Greater Jakarta but also from several cities around the capital, such as Bandung, Cirebon, Indramayu, Karawang and Subang, with some coming as far from South Sumatra.

Nining said today's rally was a continuation of their previous mass protests. The workers urged the government to quickly respond to wage-hike demands. "We also ask the government to realize its promise to ban outsourcing," said Nining.

She said the implementation of an appropriate minimum wage was needed ensure all workers across the country had a proper income.

All this time, Nining said, all efforts to improve the minimum wage standard were still focused in Jakarta and its surrounding areas. Nining also said the implementation of an appropriate minimum wage would also minimize conflict between workers and their employers.

The Jakarta administration set a minimum wage of Rp 2.2 million (US$193), the highest among the country's provinces, which range between Rp 850,000 and Rp 1.7 million. (hrl/ebf)