DHAKA: Thousands of Indonesian workers rallied in Jakarta on Thursday to demand an increase in wages of 50 percent next year, Bloomberg reported. Inflation, which is at a four-year high, has driven up living costs.

About 20,000 workers from the Confederation of Indonesian Labour Unions staged the demonstration.

It will include a protest outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, Roni Febrianto, a spokesman for the confederation, said on Thursday.

Workers clogged the capital`s main thoroughfares and those in Bandung, Bloomberg said, reports The Straits Times.

‘Companies must already cope with higher costs and may now face lower revenue amid weaker demand,’ Juniman, chief economist at Jakarta-based PT Bank Internasional Indonesia, was quoted as saying on Thursday by Bloomberg.

‘There’s a risk of more layoffs.’

BDST: 2019 HRS, SEPT 05, 2013
RoR/RIS