Indonesia: Thousands of $200-a-week workers call for higher pay

Thousands of Indonesian workers marched the streets of Jakarta on Friday (1 May) demanding higher wages during the annual May Day Rally.

Protesters holding up placards reading "reject low wages" demanded the government increase the country's minimum wage.

"According to our survey it (the pay) is not enough for living at all. The minimum wages per month for a worker is around $200 (£130) and that is not enough to sustain a family. The cost to live in a city is around $400 to $500 every month. The situation is worsened because the government only adjusts the minimum wage every five years, and with increasing fuel prices and a high inflation rate, workers' lives have become more difficult," said protester Eduard Marpuang.

Indonesia's inflation rate was above six percent in March 2015.

At the start of this year, Jakarta abolished a decades-old regime of heavily subsidising fuel, thereby letting prices to be largely determined by the market, adding burdens to the pocketbook.

Several protesters said allowing an influx of foreign investors is the root cause of low wages.

"The problem of low wages is going to continue if the government allows foreign investors to enter Indonesia. Workers nowadays have become a commodity, which is against our basic law which says that every citizen has their rights. Now, our pay is low, our life is not worthy, we don't have the rights to access welfare on education and health. The country and the government from the past (former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration) until now has never been there to help us," said Santoso Widodo, a rally participant.

Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, is divided by an enormous wealth gap.

About 11 percent of Indonesia's 240m people live below the poverty line and despite a minimum wage of about 2.4 million rupiah (£138, $213) per month being set in 2013, the low-income group still struggle.