Every November, the determination of the next year's minimum wage is a source of anxiety, but the 2024 minimum wage has been set in a very strange way, and even though the usual demonstrations are still being held, it somehow gives the impression that things will continue as they are. In early November, before the decision was made, large demonstrations were held, and radical movements such as the blockade of several industrial parks were seen for the first time in about 10 years, but the minimum wage set was a figure that was unexpected for both labor and management. Let's take a look at the trends in the minimum wage in 2024, chronologically.

[Proposal from prefectural governor and governor's decision]

In the first place, the era when the Wage Adjustment Committee, which is made up of labor, management, and government, negotiated noisily without any basic rules, and sometimes one side even boycotted the minimum wage, waiting nervously every year for the minimum wage, has changed since the incomprehensible calculation formula of ``inflation rate + GDP rate'' was decided. Why this? 2 Just when I was wondering whether to add the two, the first omnibus law changed it to the ``inflation rate or GDP rate,'' and the detailed calculation formula was set in Cabinet Order No. 36 of 2021, and things are starting to calm down. However, since then, the government has suppressed the increase in the minimum wage, even though it is no longer clear that it is ``+α'' or ``inflation rate + (GDP rate x α)''. Coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, workers who had put up with the idea that they would not recover if their company went bankrupt began to make a fuss before the 2024 minimum wage was decided, saying, ``From now on, after the coronavirus subsides, the rate of increase will be the same as before.'' The All-Indonesian Federation of Labor Unions, which has been clamoring for a 15% increase every year, has this year sealed off several industrial parks in Karawang and Bekasi provinces in West Java, forcing the provincial governor to submit a proposal to increase the minimum wage by more than 10%. Up until now, the governor has rarely changed the proposals made by the prefectural governor, and the labor union accepted this, and the demonstration was canceled. However, the minimum wage increase rate stipulated in the subsequent governor's decision was less than 5%.

[Relationship with unified local elections]

Many companies that learned of the governor's decision predicted that this decision would anger labor unions, but in reality, no major movement has been seen to date. Demonstrations are being held at the West Java Provincial Government Building in Bandung City, but the impact is small. There has been no move to revise the amount of the already established minimum wage for 2024, which is a different move from the previous All-Indonesia Federation of Trade Unions. Rumor has it that this may have an impact on the general election scheduled to be held together with the presidential election on February 14, 2024, as it is related to the political party established in 2021 by the top brass of the All Indonesian Trade Union Confederation. They seem to think that rebelling too much against the government at this time would be detrimental. Until now, there have been many state governors who have tried to demonstrate a pro-worker position by not changing the minimum wage amount, by mentioning the salary increase rate for employees who have been with the company for one year or more, or by expressing their personal opinions without changing the governor's decision, so there is no guarantee that things will remain the same in the future, but it is necessary to work on annual wage adjustments starting in January 2024. It is important to think carefully about what the company should do and not be fooled by the minimum wage increase rate.