REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has openly denounced the wage system, which causes structural poverty in Indonesia.

"The wages here are even US$100 lower than those in remote areas in China. This indicates that there is something wrong," Sharan Burrow, the secretary general of the ITUC, stated at a press conference here on Thursday.

According to Sharan, the results of a poll reveal that some 82 percent of the Indonesian people agreed that Indonesian workers should be offered decent wages and should be able to lead a better standard of life in the country.

"We have a representative here and in Cambodia, South Korea, and other countries. We agree that workers everywhere should get proper wages, and the ITUC is against excessive exploitation for generating high profits," she noted.

She remarked that former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had discussed the matter with the ITUC and had agreed that workers should be given decent wages.

"However, in the current era, the new government did not do it, and we have to emphasize that the present government should pay attention on the wages currently being offered to workers," emphasized Sharan.

The current payment system applied by the government is against the Indonesian law, Sharan affirmed.

She stated that if Indonesia did not make any changes and did not take into account the aspirations of the workers, the ITUC will take part in the struggle of Indonesian workers to defend their rights in the country.

"We congratulate the common action of Indonesian workers in demanding their rights," she added.

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