Laborers Get Ready to Rally if Fuel Price Increases
30 August 2014 18:26 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI) chairperson Said Iqbal refused Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla's plan for increasing fuel prices, because the regulation has further burdened disadvantaged people.
“They should take more creative regulations to curb the national budget's deficit,” he said when contacted by Tempo, Friday, August 29. According to Iqbal, the increase in fuel by 20 to 40 percent would decrease laborers' purchasing power by 50 percent.
He threatened to deploy laborers to the streets if Jokowi-JK were to increase fuel prices. “We will be on national strike, which will be participated by 2 million workers,” he claimed.
He said there were many methods to curb the deficit. For instance, by cutting unnecessary ministry budgets, such as holding seminars at luxurious hotels, or changing state-owned electricity firm PLN's fuel from diesel fuel to coal or gas. “Subsidized fuel to PLN should be removed as well,” he uttered.
AMRI MAHBUB | ROBBY IRFANI