KSPI President Said Iqbal Threatens 2 Million Workers Will Strike A National Strike If The Minimum Wage Is Not Revised

Labor demonstrations at the Horse Statue area in Central Jakarta/PHOTO: Diah Ayu-VOI

JAKARTA - The President of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) Said Iqbal has threatened that two million workers will go on strike nationwide if the governor's decree setting the provincial minimum wage (UMP) and district/city minimum wage (UMK) in 2022 is not revoked.

Said Iqbal said the decree regarding wage fixing had to be revoked because the Constitutional Court (MK) ruled that the Job Creation Act was unconstitutional.

Therefore, workers consider that the derivative regulation of the Job Creation Law, namely Government Regulation No. 36 of 2021 as the basis for the decree on wage determination in 2022, can be suspended, so that the UMP and UMK that are considered detrimental to workers can be revised.

"Resisting the national strike movement is an option if in the process leading up to a maximum of two years from the beginning of the formation of the new Job Creation Law, the public still ignores public participation. A national strike to stop production is planned to be attended by 2 million workers and more than 100 factories will stop production," said Iqbal. during a demonstration at the Arjuna Wiwaha Horse Statue, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, December 8.

However, Iqbal continued, the workers still gave the government the opportunity to revoke PP Number 36 of 2021 and the Governor's Decree regarding the UMP and UMK.

However, if this demand is not heeded, the national strike movement will continue to be carried out in all provinces throughout Indonesia.

"We can stop production of 2 million workers. All will lose, the economy will be crippled by workers. Therefore, we will not do that if the government really implements the Constitutional Court's decision and the Governor's Decree must be abolished," he asserted.

Workers staged a massive protest today. They will make two demands. Initially, the action plan was held in front of the Constitutional Court Building demanding an explanation from the Constitutional Court for the decision on the lawsuit against Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation which was declared conditionally unconstitutional.

Then, the action was continued in front of the DKI City Hall to collect Governor Anies Baswedan's promise to revise the DKI provincial minimum wage (UMP) in 2022. This is because Anies promised to revise the governor's decree (SK) related to the UMP on the basis of justice.