I do not (side with) the entrepreneurs. I also have to be the middle person. I also have to see how job opportunities are for our unemployed (fellows), as COVID-19 (cases and condition) have (gotten worse)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah has said that her administration remains committed to providing protection to workers, including for their wages.

"No one, not a single inch of me degrades the protection for workers or laborers," the minister noted during a meeting with Commission IX of the House of Representatives here on Monday.

Fauziyah in a press statement on Tuesday said that it was wrong if anyone misunderstood that the 2022 minimum wage policy reflected the government's indifference to the workers' fate.


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The minister clarified that she did not favour entrepreneurs or businessowners in the 2022 minimum wage policy. It was issued as a middle ground for employers and workers or labor.

"I do not (side with) the entrepreneurs. I also have to be the middle person. I also have to see how job opportunities are for our unemployed (fellows), as COVID-19 (cases and condition) have (gotten worse)," she remarked.


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On the other hand, Fauziyah admitted to have also heeded to the complaints of businessmen in rather pitiable conditions.

The complaints ranged from entrepreneurs agonizing over no longer being able to pay salaries as stipulated because of the wage increase, with some diverting their business and also terminating some businesses.

"There are several other sad stories. Of course, we have to be fair in setting the minimum wage. Thus, this is a middle path that must be taken by the government in difficult conditions. We maintain the protection of wages, (but on the other hand), we must (also) pay attention to business continuity," she concluded.


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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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