CEBU, Philippines — The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) is set to hold a nationwide protest within the month following the “meager” P25 salary increase granted to minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
"The purpose of the nationwide mobilization is to send a message to government (officials) and business (owners) that workers and their families are starving," said ALU-TUCP Spokesperson Allan Tanjusay.
He said it will be done in Metro Manila and in some key cities, including Cebu City.
Labor groups slammed the increase, calling it an “injustice” to the working class.
Minimum wage workers in the National Capital Region will receive an additional P25 to their current P512 daily pay. The P10 cost of living adjustment was also integrated in the minimum wage.
The P25 increase is far cry from the request of ALU-TUCP for a P334 wage hike.
“For us, it is not fair because the economy is growing, businesses are expanding and more profits are coming in. A P25 wage increase is not acceptable. This is a great injustice to the workers who helped build the business, this is injustice for workers who helped build our economy grow,” Tanjusay said in an earlier interview on ANC.
Moreover, Tanjusay said they are still finalizing their draft petition for wage increase among workers in Central Visayas.
"I am not sure what time we can finally decide because it needs data, but definitely we will file because of extraordinary inflation the region. The recent wage rate (P25) is not enough. We are preparing the draft petition," he said.
In a meeting the other day, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas (RTWPB-7) said it needs more data to establish the presence of supervening conditions that would warrant the P150 per day wage hike filed by five labor organizations.
Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Economic Development Authority, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, and the Department of Energy were summoned to present before the board the region’s economic conditions on November 19.
RTWPB needs to declare a supervening condition first before it can take actions on the pending petition for wage increase because of the one year period prohibition, said Jose Tomongha, one of the labor sector representatives in the board.
Wage boards are prohibited to issue wage order within one year from its last wage order unless there is a supervening condition. RTWPB-7 earlier approved a P10 to P50 daily wage increase for minimum wage earners in the private sector. Wage Order No. 21 took effect on August 3, 2018.
The supervening conditions include the unstable oil prices, the increase in the prices of basic commodities, the reduction of the purchasing power of the peso, and the impending hike in the transportation fare, among others. — KBQ (FREEMAN)