SIX COMPANIES TO LAY OFF 7,600 WORKERS

Jakarta, Nov 11 (ANTARA) - Six logging and garment producers have submitted a request to the government to lay off 7,600 workers prompted by the current global economic crisis.
Manpower Minister Erman Suparno said here on Tuesday he had received the request through a team he had set up to monitor the impact of the crisis.
Ministers of home affairs, trade, industry and manpower had earlier agreed to issue a joint decree in anticipation of an impact of the crisis such as by wage adjustments.
Erman did not mention what he would do in connection with the companies' request. He only said that until now no companies had laid off their workers. He said what the companies had asked their workers to stop working temporarily.
In connection with the government's anticipation of the need to issue a joint ministerial decree, Erman said the deal did not prohibit wages increases earlier announced by the different regional administrations.
The agreement was a mere anticipatory measure, he said adding that if a region was able to raise minimum wages, the relevant authorities would not abbrogate it.
He said that under Article 1 of the ruling states that if a business sector is hit hard by the crisis, the regional wage council and the regional administration would have to rediscuss the minimum wages regulation in the regions.
Every regional administration, he said, must check the capability of companies in its region with regard to the minimum wage. "If it is able to raise it please go on but if the situation is critical a way out must be sought," he said.
He said several regions had already increased their minimum wage by 10 to 19 percent such as Jakarta increasing the wage by 10 percent and West Java by 10.56 percent. "East Java raised it about 11 percent, Yogyakarta 19 percent and Central Java is proposing 12.7 percent," he said.