Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – With the prices of basic needs continuing to soar, life is tough for Sugeng Supriadi. The 39-year-old contract teacher at a junior high school in Bandarlampung makes ends meet driving a pedicab.
The graduate of Tanjungkarang Teacher Training College, who has worked at Nusantara junior high school for the past 20 years, said his monthly take-home pay of Rp 120,000 was far from enough to feed his family.
A 2005 government regulation on the promotion and transfer of contract teachers to posts in the civil service stipulates that a contract worker's salary is determined by the related government office, with the money coming from the state or local budget.
In Sugeng's case, the private school's board is entitled to set his fee and hours. He gets paid Rp 14,500 an hour, teaching less than 10 hours a month. "I don't mind driving a pedicab. I cannot put food on the table unless I do," Sugeng said.
His eldest child is in junior high school. He also has a child in the fourth grade and a 5-year-old who is yet to go to school.
After teaching, at around 1 p.m., Sugeng waits for passengers near Ramayana shopping center in Bandarlampung. He goes home to rest at 5 p.m., heading out again after dark to look for passengers. He earns an additional Rp 15,000-20,000 daily.
"I won't get money if I wait for passengers because there are so many pedicab drivers now. I have to compete with motorcycle taxi drivers too," said the resident of Tanjung Agung in East Tanjung Karang.
Thousands of contract teachers share a similar fate, earning Rp 75,000-500,000 per month. The province has set a minimum wage of Rp 510,000. Factory workers are in a similar predicament.
Safrudin supports his wife and two school-aged with a job in a factory in Bandarlampung that pays Rp 510,000 a month. He stopped taking the bus to work when the fare went up to Rp 1,000 from Rp 600, making the 35-kilometer journey by bike instead.
"My wife doesn't cook on our kerosene stove anymore but over the fire," said the resident of Gulak-Galik in North Telukbetung.
He said the Rp 100,000 assistance payment he collected monthly from the government made little difference because the prices of basic goods and transportation fares continued to increase.
Workers in Lampung earn less than those in Java, despite the higher cost of living in the province, but many workers like Safrudin do not dare protest since they are paid according to the wage rates set by the city administration.
Workers in Bandarlampung and other smaller cities in Lampung are unwilling to stage protests for fear of dismissal. But activists from a number of non-governmental organizations have drawn attention to their plight through rallies.
The United People's Alliance (ARB), grouping various elements of society in Lampung, has demanded that Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. raise the minimum monthly wage to Rp 814,306, arguing that Rp 510,000 is no longer sufficient. "We don't want to be cheated again." said ARB spokesman Rachmat Husen.
He said the governor and the local manpower office needed to create better working conditions and raise the minimum wage as soon as possible.
Rachmat said many men and women were exploited by large companies that paid meager salaries. A local daily owned by a prestigious media company in Indonesia pays its reporters Rp 300,000 a month.
In April, a large-scale food producer was reprimanded by the local manpower office for paying its workers below the minimum wage, and three companies were also given warnings last year for remunerating their workers between Rp 200,000 to Rp 350,000 per month. For next year, the province has set a minimum wage of Rp 560,000.
Governor Sjachroedin said the current wage rates had been recommended by the remuneration committee. "I only received its recommendation and endorsed it. I personally find the amount to be inappropriate. But, we should also consider other aspects, such as the poor business climate and other conditions. I hope the minimum wage can be raised to at least Rp 1 million," he said.