Indonesian workers’ strike hailed

Labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno hailed today the successful nationwide strike demanding an end to contractual employment and a significant wage hike staged last Wednesday by Indonesian workers, calling on Filipino workers to unionize and unite to defend their rights.

The strike, which mobilized almost three million workers and affected 80 industrial states in 24 cities, demanded that the Indonesian government stop the outsourcing of jobs, which terminate workers without giving them compensation, and increase the minimum wage.

“The demands of the workers of Indonesia are the same as the demands of the workers of the Philippines. We are both calling for an end to contractual employment and a significant increase in the minimum wage,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairperson.

“The Indonesian workers are teaching us Filipino workers that we need to unionize and unite in order to effectively defend our rights. We are calling on workers across the country to form unions and other organizations in workplaces and communities in order to defend our rights,” he added.

“Amidst the intensification of the global economic and financial crisis, big capitalists are further destroying job security and pressing down workers’ wages. The Aquino government continues to implement its Cheap Labor Policy, which means the offering up of cheap and repressed labor to investors,” he said.

The labor center noted that out of the 75 cities surveyed in the Aug. 2011 study of the UBS (formerly Union Bank of Switzerland), Manila ranked third in terms of lowest purchasing power, with Jakarta ranking first.

“The Aquino government has repeatedly rejected calls to increase the minimum wage by a significant amount. Worse, it is implementing the Two-Tiered Wage System which amounts to a 30 per cent wage cut and a wage freeze for the country’s workers,” Labog said.

“Despite Martial Law conditions, workers are striving to form unions and various organizations. Because capitalists’ greed is boundless, we may soon see an Indonesian-type workers’ strike and protests in the country,” he added.

The Two-Tiered Wage System, which is already being implemented in most of the country’s regions, mandates the creation of a floor wage and a productivity-based wage above the first.

Labor officials have been saying in various forums that floor wages in the country’s regions will be equivalent to 70 per cent of average wages, which are almost equal to present minimum wage levels.