Bekasi UMK Recommended To Increase 13.99 Percent, Labor Boss Asks DKI UMP To Be Revised

President of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) Said Iqbal. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

The labor unions that are members of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) have requested that the DKI Jakarta provincial minimum wage (UMP) be revised.

The reason is, the Regency/City Minimum Wage (UMP) of Bekasi Regency rose much higher, namely 13.99 percent.

Not only Bekasi, several other regencies/cities also recommended an increase not far from that. For example, the Regent of Majalengka increased 14.81 percent, the Mayor of Bekasi rose 14.02 percent, the Regent of Karawang 12 percent, and the Regent of Subang 12.33 percent.

KSPI President Said Iqbal regretted that the increase in the DKI UMP was only 3.38 percent. Even though economic growth in Jakarta reached 5.2 percent.

Therefore, Iqbal questioned what logic was used by the Acting Governor of DKI Heru Budi so that the increase in the UMP was set below economic growth.

"Therefore, the DKI UMP must be revised," he said in an official statement, Friday, November 24.

Regarding the Bekasi UMK and other industrial cities, Iqbal said the increase used a certain index of 1.0 to 2.0. Not the alpha determined by PP Number 51 of 2023 barum, which is with a value between 0.1 to 0.3.

Denga demikian, sambung Iqbal, rekomendasi Bupati Bekasi agar UMK tahun depan naik 13,99 persen sama dengan PNS, TNI/Polri.

What's more, the prices of demand have soared. Rice and cooking oil rose 30 percent. Then, transportation costs rose 25 percent and house rental rose 50 percent.

"So to catch up to this increase, you have to use reasonable alpha," he said

Furthermore, Iqbal said, the increase in goods prices was also in line with the food inflation, which was mostly consumed by the public based on BPS data, which was around 25 percent.

"The Bekasi Regent and other regional leaders in industrial cities, they realize that food inflation is the most needed," he explained.

Another reason why such an increase is relevant, continued Iqbal, is that Indonesia is currently an upper-middle-income country, where its per capita income is close to 5.6 million.

Meanwhile, the minimum wage in DKI and Bekasi is in the range of IDR 4.9 million.

For this reason, Iqbal said, an increase in the minimum wage of approximately 15 percent is very relevant, so that the minimum wage is close to per capita income.

"Another reason is that the results of the Labor Party's R&D survey and KSPI on the needs of a decent life (KHL) of 64 items obtained an increase of 12 to 15 percent," he explained.