Jakarta – Thousands of members of the Indonesian Workers Union, or KSPI, will stage nation-wide strikes from Nov. 24 to 27 protesting against President Joko Widodo's minimum wage reforms which the union argues will leave them worse-off financially.
The union is demanding the government revoke this year's regulation which sees the minimum wage based on inflation and overall economic growth, and for governors across the country increase the minimum wage by around Rp 500,000 ($37).
"We would like to sit together with the Indonesian Employers Association [Apindo], the workers and the government to discuss a new regulation for wages.
"About 400,000 laborers will join the strike in Jakarta itself. We will focus the strike on the industrial zones and governmental areas," KSPI head Iqbal told okezone.com on Monday.
Th KSPI said the abandonment of the Reasonable Living Cost Index (KHL) under the new regulation does not adequately address the needs of workers. "This regulation is killing us because it is only based on the inflation and the Gross Domestic Product," Iqbal said.
If wages are determined by inflation and the GDP, the existing minimum wages must first be increased to between Rp 3.6 million to Rp 3.7 million – minimum wage workers in Jakarta currently earn Rp 2.7 million a month.
Apindo, the peak body of Indonesia's employers, meanwhile rejects both the wage rise and the national strike.
"We disagree with the national strike because it disrupts the companies' productivity," head of Apindo's Bekasi chapter Purnomo Narmiadi said on Tuesday.
"Compared to the past three years, wages could not be estimated. The regulation is very moderate and it can channel the aspirations of the companies and the laborers."
The four-day event will take place across 22 provinces including in Jakarta, Sumatra, South Sulawesi and Papua.
"Approximately 1,300 to 1,500 labors are doing a long march from the Harapan Indah Roundabout and Bantargebang [both located in Bekasi, West Java] heading to the Bekasi City Hall," Adj. Comr. Bayu Pratama of the Bekasi District Sector Office, said on Tuesday.
Jakarta Regional Police have deployed 6,000 officers to ensure of safety of the event and have asked demonstrators to refrain from violent acts, including shutting down toll roads.