Jakarta – Thousands of secretariat employees in villages across Java and Bali went to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, demanding they become officially recognized as civil servants.

The employees said they had been working for the state for years without a clear job status.

"We want a promotion regardless of our educational background, age or work period," a spokesman for the group, Sutoto, told a meeting with members of the House's Commission II on regional autonomy.

The government said on Tuesday that all civil servants would start receiving a salary increase beginning next year, with the lowest ranked employees getting Rp 1 million (US$100) a month.