The rally which took place in front of the State Enterprises Ministry ran peacefully, with some of them singing `dangdut` songs and delivering their orations in turn.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of workers staged a rally here on Wednesday to protest against an electricity tariff increase which they said may lead companies to postpone minimum provincial wage hikes.
The workers came from the Federation of Indonesian Metal Labor Unions (FSPMI), the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBI) and the All-Indonesia Labor Union (SPSI).
The electricity tariff hike may give companies an excuse to postpone minimum provincial wage hikes as stipulated in the manpower and transmigration minister`s regulation number 231 of 2003, the workers said.
"The electricity tariff should not be raised before minimum provincial wages are increased. As a matter of fact, many companies have applied for postponement of minimum provincial wage hikes. If the electricity tariff is raised companies will have reasons to postpone the minimum provincial wage hikes," the chief of the KSPI chapter in Jakarta, William Yani said on the sidelines of the rally.
The rally which took place in front of the State Enterprises Ministry ran peacefully, with some of them singing `dangdut` songs and delivering their orations in turn.
No representative of the ministry met the demonstrators.
"We arrived here at 09.00 a.m. We are going to hold similar rallies in front of the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry this afternoon," Yani said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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