Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An alliance of labor unions in North Sumatra said that they would return to the streets in the immediate future and file a lawsuit against acting governor Gatot Puji Nugroho at the State Administrative Court over his cheap-labor policy.

Economic activities in Medan and its surrounding areas were paralyzed last month when thousands of workers from industrial estates went on strike and blockaded the Tanjungmorawa-Belawan toll road and the Belawan seaport.

Labor union alliance spokesman Minggu Saragih said in a press conference here on Sunday that all labor unions were still preparing to stage the second wave of industrial strikes.

"We will be back on the streets with massive rallies and a special team that has been assigned to accompany workers while they file their lawsuit against the acting governor," he said.

Minggu said that the provincial government should be held responsible if the massive strikes turned chaotic because the acting government had not listened to the workers demands for decent wages. He lambasted the provincial government over the cheap-labor policy that would negatively affect the majority of workers' economic livelihood.

The acting governor approved the provincial wage committee's recommendation to increase the provincial minimum wage to Rp 1,375,000 (US$142.49) in 2013 from Rp 1,200,000 in 2012, sparking outrage among workers who said that the hike was far below the basic cost of living (KHL) in the province.

"If the provincial government is committed to repairing labor conditions in the province, North Sumatra should follow Batam, Jakarta, Banten and West Java, which set their respective minimum wages far above the basic cost of living," he said referring to the Rp 2.2 million minimum wage in Jakarta, Batam and West Java.

Referring to the 2012 ministerial decree on wage components, he said the basic cost of living in North Sumatra was similar to that of in Riau Islands, Jakarta and surrounding provinces.

"The high wage gap between North Sumatra and other provinces is not caused by the basic cost of living factor, but by the absence of the provincial government's commitment to ending the cheap labor policy," he said.

According to him, the provincial government should continue fighting against corruption and the high-cost economy, including illegal levies imposed on companies, in an effort to enable employers to pay their workers far above the provincial minimum wage.

He also believes that authorities should not bow down to pressure from investors to institutionalize the cheap labor policy, which has negatively impacted relations between workers and their employers.

Head of the provincial manpower and transmigration office, Bukit Tambunan, challenged labor unions to bring the gubernatorial decree on minimum wage hikes to the court. He said that the lawsuit would likely be turned down because minimum wage had already been increased in accordance with the formal procedure.

"The acting governor will not review the decree, which was issued on the basis of a recommendation from the provincial wage committee representing the government, employers and workers," he said.

He warned that if North Sumatra follows Jakarta, Riau Islands and West Java, many labor-intensive companies would shut down and many others would layoff their workers.

He revealed that hundreds of garment and manufacturing companies in the province had lodged official requests to be exempt from the wage hike decree due to their own financial difficulties.