New Round Of Polemic For DKI UMP Revision, Businessman Sues Anies Baswedan To PTUN

JAKARTA - The group of entrepreneurs manifested their form of protest against the decision of the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan to increase the amount of the provincial minimum wage (UMP) for DKI 2022 through legal channels.

On January 13 yesterday, the DKI Jakarta Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) officially sued Anies to the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) for not accepting the revised UMP increase to 5.1 percent.

In the Case Tracing Information System (SIPP) of the Jakarta Administrative Court with case number 11/G/2022/PTUN.JKT, Apindo demanded Anies to revoke the Governor's Decree (Kepgub) for the Special Capital Region of Jakarta Number 1517 of 2021 concerning the 2022 Provincial Minimum Wage on 16 December 2021.

This Governor Decree is a revision of the previous Governor Decree regarding the determination of the UMP. Anies made the determination of the revised UMP without referring to the legal basis set by the central government.

In addition, Apindo asked Anies to return the governor decree regarding the UMP which was previously set at 0.85 percent.

"Declare that the Decree of the Governor of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta Number 1395 of 2021 concerning the 2022 Provincial Minimum Wage on November 19, 2021, is valid and binding," the lawsuit reads as quoted from the SIPP PTUN Jakarta page.

Responding to this, Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria admitted to respecting the legal steps taken by entrepreneurs regarding Anies' decision to revise the increase in the UMP from 0.85 percent to 5.1 percent.

"Our country is a democratic country. Ordinary, yes. There is one policy, it is impossible to satisfy all parties. We respect that there are some businessmen who file a lawsuit related to the UMP that has been set by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government," Riza told reporters, Monday, January 17.

Because Anies revised the UMP

Initially, Anies issued a Decree of the Governor to determine an increase in the UMP by 0.85 percent on November 19, 2021. This amount follows the central government's calculation formula.

Workers do not accept the amount of this UMP increase. They repeatedly held demonstrations in front of Anies' office to demand a revision to the UMP rise. Anies then complied with the workers' wishes by changing the UMP increase from 0.85 percent to 5.1 percent.

Anies explained that the decision to revise the increase in the UMP came from his feelings of being disturbed by the results of the UMP formula regulated by Government Regulation (PP) 36/2021 concerning Wages.

This formula results in a 0.85 percent UMP increase. Anies admitted that he was surprised that when the economic condition began to recover due to the pandemic, the increase in the UMP resulted in a small number.

"Imagine, economic conditions that are already better, using a formula, the figure is 0.8 percent. Isn't that disturbing the sense of justice? That's why we studied inflation and (economic) growth, so that in the end the figure came out at 5.1 percent," said Anies, when met at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta, Monday, December 20.

This decision infuriated entrepreneurs. Apindo Chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani assessed that Anies had violated the wage regulations related to the revision of the DKI Jakarta provincial minimum wage increase (UMP) in 2022.

"In this case, we see that the regional head, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, has violated the wage regulations, namely those in Government Regulation (PP) Number 36 of 2021 concerning Wages," said Hariyadi.

Hariyadi said Anies violated the provisions in the PP Wages, in particular Article 26 concerning Procedures for Calculation of the Minimum Wage; Article 27 regarding UMP; and Article 29 regarding the time for determining the minimum wage that should be for the province no later than November 21, 2021.