Workers and coal mining firms divided over minimum wage

Negotiations over minimum wage dispute at East Kalimantan’s coal mining companies have been stalled as both representatives of the coal mining sector and the workers continued to defend their respective demands, Kaltim Post reported on Tuesday.

The representatives of the workers demanded to increase the minimum wage for the coal production sector to Rp980,000 (1$=Rp1,825) per month this year from Rp700,000 in 2003 while the representatives of the coal mining companies agreed only to increase the minimum wage level by 10 percent to Rp720,000 per month.

The negotiations, which took place on Friday and Saturday, last week, were stalled as both parties refused to change their demand. The labor representatives initially proposed the minimum wage to be increased to Rp1,031,800 per month but later agreed to lower their demand to Rp980,000 per month due to resistance from the coal producers. The coal mining companies, however, considered that the workers’ demand was still too high.

The proposed increase in the minimum wage is still within the level of the projected rise in the workers’ minimum needs to Rp810,700 in 2004 from Rp737,000 in 2003. Representatives of the workers said that the sectoral minimum wage should be at least five percent higher than the regional minimum wage in East Kalimantan, which was recently increased to Rp572,562 per month. (*)