Jakarta – The government plans to increase regional minimum wages by between 10 percent and 20 percent next April.

Syaufii Samsuddin, director general of industrial relations and labor standards at the manpower ministry, said on Tuesday that almost all provincial offices of the ministry had proposed an increase in minimum wages. Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris was expected to announce the decision on an increase in January.

"This increase is expected to raise optimism among workers in the coming year," Syaufii said. He acknowledged the financial difficulties many firms were facing, but said that not all would be unable to pay at least the minimum wages.

Syaufii said the government would also decide upon the minimum w ages in sectors which were considered able to pay workers higher than the minimum wage levels. "Aceh proposes raising minimum wages in eight sectors and North Sumatra proposes hikes in seven sectors, including agriculture, food and beverages, and electronics," he said.

Last April, the government raised regional minimum wages by an average of 15 percent. A 10 percent increase for a single worker in Greater Jakarta (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi), for instance, will increase the minimum wage to Rp 218,350 from Rp 198,500.

The ministry rules that companies requiring permission to delay increasing their workers' salaries should forward their requests to the ministry within three months of the new ministerial decree on minimum wages taking effect. The ministry will, if necessary, audit the companies making such requests before deciding whether they can delay increasing salaries.

Regional minimum wages refer to the lowest wages in small-scale companies, while minimum wages for sectors are higher. The director general said that despite numerous labor unions only the All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation (SPSI) had been recommended by the government to represent workers in negotiations on pay increases with their employers.

"New labor unions have yet to be allowed to negotiate with managements because the company unions have yet to register with the government," he said. Ministerial Decree No. 5/1998 requires all new labor unions, including branches in provinces and regencies, to register with the government.

Syaufii also called on companies to pay annual bonuses to workers who celebrate Christmas before Dec. 25, and to those who celebrate Idul Fitri before Jan. 10.

"According to the government regulation, companies are obliged to pay a bonus equaling one-month salary plus allowances as annual bonuses to their workers. Companies failing to comply with the government ruling will be punished in accordance with the 1969 labor law " he said.

Syaufii said no companies had requested exemption from the ruling on annual bonuses. He said that last year, 87 companies were allowed to defer paving annual bonuses to their workers. Fourteen companies' requests were turned down. He also said workers who were dismissed 30 days before Christmas or Idul Fitri were entitled to an annual bonus.

Syaufii also appealed to companies to help provide transportation facilities to workers who wanted to travel to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri and to ensure that they would return to Jakarta on time. "Transportation facilities would benefit not only workers but also help them to return to their workplaces on time," he said.