Indonesian Labor Federation Rejects Fuel Price Hike

Jakarta, Nov 18 (Antara) - The Indonesian confederation of trade unions (KSPI) said it rejected the government` decision Monday night to raise the prices of subsidized oil fuels (BBM). President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announced the price hike raising the price of premium gasoline to Rp8,500 per liter from Rp6,500 and that of automotive diesel oil to Rp7,500 from Rp5,500 per liter originally. Jokowi said the subsidy would be appropriated for productive sectors such as for the education and public health and to finance infrastructure projects. KSPI chairman Said Iqbal said it was not true that rich people benefited more from the subsidy than poor people. "There are the subsidy more than 86 million motorists including workers in the country. Therefore, it is not true that the subsidy has benefited the rich only," Iqbal said in a statement here on Tuesday. The government and many economists said the subsidy policy so far had been misappropriated with those not entitled to subsidy benefiting more from it. Iqbal said the BBM price hike has weakened workers` purchasing power by 50 percent with cost of living soaring including house rent, transport cost and prices of essential goods. On the contrary, rich people including employers would gain from the price hike as they would gain more from improved infrastructure and would give them reason to raise the prices of their goods, he said. "It is strange that when the oil prices fell in the world market to US$80 per barrel, Indonesia raised its BBM prices, which were calculated on oil price targets of US$105 per barrels as set in the 2014 and 2015 state budget," he said. The social security program of President Joko Widodo had nothing to do with re-appropriation of BBM subsidy as the social security uses the fund already appropriated in the state budget for national health security (JKN), student assistance for children of poor families (BSM) and social security net (JPS), he said. "No worker has received cards of the social security program" he added. With the BBM price hike, the recent workers` pay hike is meaningless, he said. Therefore, workers would launch big protests at the same time in 20 provinces or 150 regencies/cities to reject the BBM price hike, and demand governors to revise the decision on workers` minimum wage proportionally with the BBM price hike, he added.