Minimum wage rates for 2008 throughout Indonesia.

On average minimum monthly wage rates have risen about 10% on 2007, and cover about 90% of estimated average living costs (KHL, Kebutuhan Hidup Layak).

• Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam - 1,000,000 rupiah
• Sumatra, North - 822,205
• Sumatra, West - 800,000
• Riau - 800,000
• Riau Islands (Batam and Bintan) - 833,000
• Jambi - 724,000
• Sumatra, South - 743,000
• Bangka Belitung - 813,000
• Bengkulu - 683,528
• Lampung - ?
• West Java - 568,193
•     Bogor - 873,231
•     Depok - 962,500
•     Purwakarta - 763,000
•     Bekasi City - 990,000
•         Group I - 1,020,000
•         Group II - 1,013,000
•     Bekasi Regency - 980,589
•         Group I - 1,020,000
•         Group II - 1,015,000
•     Sumedang (Jatinangor, Tanjungsari, Cimanggung & Pamulihan) - 886,000
•     Sumedang (outside of Jatinangor, Tanjungsari, Cimanggung & Pamulihan) - 700,000
•     Karawang - 912,225
•         Group I - 924,619
•         Group II - 970,000
•         Group III - 1,013,583
•     Bandung City - 939,000
•     Bandung Regency - 895,980
• DKI Jakarta - 972,604
• Banten - 837,000
•     Tangerang - 953,850
•     Cilegon - 971,400
• Central Java - 547,000
• Yogyakarta - 586,000
• East Java
•     Surabaya - 805,500
•     Sidoarjo - 802,000
• Bali
•     Badung - 805,000
•     Denpasar - 800,000
•     Gianyar - 760,000
•     Jembrana - 737,500
•     Karangasem - 712,320
•     Klungkung - 686,000
•     Bangli - 685,000
•     Tabanan - 685,000
•     Buleleng - 685,000
• NTB - 730,000
• NTT - 650,000
• Kalimantan, West - 645,000
• Kalimantan, South - 825,000
• Kalimantan, Central - 765,868
• Kalimantan, East - 815,000
• Maluku - 700,000
• Maluku, North - 700,000
• Gorontalo - 600,000
• Sulawesi, North - ?
• Sulawesi, South East - 700,000
• Sulawesi, Central - 670,000
• Sulawesi, South - 740,520
• Sulawesi, West - 760,500
• Papua - 1,105,500

Some employers are unhappy about the raising of minimum wages and the Jakarta Post says they fear the investment climate in the country will deteriorate.

In the industrial zone of Riau Islands some companies have filed a lawsuit at the State Administrative Court against the 11% rise in monthly wages to 960,000 rupiah (US$100) from Rp 860,000 in 2007.

Deputy chairman of the Riau Islands chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Abdullah Gose, said employers would pay workers at the previous rate until the court made a decision.

If we are defeated in the case, we will appeal to the Supreme Court until the governor reviews his decree on the new minimum wage.

Abdullah says employers in Batam and Bintan are already hard-hit by high world fuel prices, which has resulted in higher prices for their raw materials.

Many investors are relocating their factories to China and Vietnam partly because of the unpredictable wage hikes which have affected the investment climate in the country

In West Java about 40 labour-intensive industries in West Java have filed a request to postpone paying the increases to staff, or requested exemptions.

In Bandung, West Java, chief of the manpower and transmigration office Sukarto Karnen said it was the governor’s prerogative to accept or reject the requests.

We are waiting on an official response from the governor on the requests.

Employers, mostly owners of garment and shoe factories, have blamed their problems on the flow of transhipments of Chinese-made clothing and other products into Indonesia.

Meanwhile the chairman of the North Sumatra chapter of the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions, Yos Waruwu, said most workers and labour unions opposed wage increases too, but because they weren’t big enough.

Employers should not only demand to be understood but should also understand the workers’s poor livelihood

He said that the ideal minimum wage for a married worker in North Sumatra should be 1.2 million rupiah.

Tags: Aceh, Badung, Bandung, Bangka Belitung, Batam, Bekasi, Bintan, Bogor, China, Chinese, Clothing, Companies, Depok, DKI Jakarta, Fuel, Indonesians, Industries, Investment, Jakarta, Jambi, Java, Kalimantan, Karawang, Labor, Labourers, Minimum Wage Rates, NTB, Prices, Purwakarta, Riau, Rupiah, Sidoarjo, Sumatra, Surabaya, Tangerang, Unions, West Java