TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Several countries apply minimum wage standards to protect workers. With these standards, the countries hope that no worker is paid below the minimum wage.
In Indonesia, for example, this system is known as Regional Minimum Wage (UMR) to determine the lowest pay for a worker. If a worker receives a wage below the minimum wage, they can be penalized.
However, some countries do not have a national minimum wage system. Austria is one of the countries that does not use a national wage system. Instead of such a system, wage determination in this country is based on specific sectoral collective bargaining agreements.
Other countries that also do not have a national minimum wage system besides Austria include; Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and the Vatican.
These countries use agreements or internal negotiations. In these negotiations, the presence of workers unions is one of the factors that ensures fair and just wages for all workers.
For instance, Sweden applies a collective agreement system that allocates specific salary levels for different job sectors. Workers affiliated with workers' unions will discuss the fairness of wages that do not harm any party.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore is also a country that does not have a strict national minimum wage system. This neighboring country of Indonesia uses the Progressive Minimum Wage (PMW) model for certain industries. According to the Singapore Ministry of Manpower, PMW is a model that benefits workers to increase their wages alongside productivity improvements and skills development.
These countries that do not apply a minimum wage are not included in the list of countries experiencing major conflicts between employers and workers. For example, Sweden and Norway both provide agreements that benefit their workers, ensuring fair and adequate wages. In fact, Sweden provides comfort to workers by having non-strenuous working hours, only 40 hours per week.
Agreements formed through discussions or negotiations promote justice that drives workers to improve their welfare. However, these agreements and negotiations can be effective when accompanied by a class awareness capable of showing the common need to enhance welfare.
This also happens in Japan. Through negotiations with workers' unions, Japanese companies agreed to increase wages by 5.25 percent. As quoted from the Japan Times, this wage increase is the highest in the past 34 years. This applies to members of the Rengo workers' union, representing seven million workers from 5,162 companies in Japan. The Rengo members represent 10 percent of all workers in Japan.
Muhammad Fria Dachrama Sumitro also contributed to the writing of this article.
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