RTWPB-7 sets hearing on wage hike petitions

CEBU, Philippines — The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-7 will conduct public hearings on the wage hike petitions filed by Cebu’s labor groups.

RTWPB-7 chairman Lilia Estillore, who is also the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment-7, said that the public consultations will proceed by July this year as there is no need to determine whether there is a supervening conditions or not as the last wage hike will be one year by today, June 14, since it was implemented.

Under the one-year banned rule, the wage board will not entertain any wage petitions within one year from the date of implementation of the latest wage increase, unless there is a supervening condition which includes price increase, and inflation rate, among others.

It can be recalled that the RTWPB-7 has approved a P31 daily wage hike for all the workers in the private sector and the P500 monthly increase for domestic workers in Central Visayas which comprises of Cebu, Siquijor, Negros Oriental and Bohol which took effect on June 14, 2022.

Under Wage Order No. ROVII-23, it said that the wage increase shall apply to all minimum wage earners in the private sector within the region, regardless of their position, designation or status and irrespective of the method by which their wages are paid.

Estillore, in an interview, said they will just announce as to the exact dates of the public consultations that will be made in Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.

It can be recalled, 20 labor groups in Cebu filed their wage hike petitions in February and April of this year.

Labor group Alyansa sa Mamumuong Kontraktwal sa Sugbo (ALSA Kontraktwal Cebu) filed a petition for a ?100 immediate wage increase stating the dire economic crisis as valid justification for the increase.

The Partido Manggagawa-Cebu, in a joint petition with 10 other labor groups, also seeks the increase of P100 per day for the minimum wage workers in Region-7.

Aside from PM-Cebu, the other 10 wage hike petitioners are Sentro ng Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO), Globalwear Employees Union-PIGLAS (GEU-PIGLAS), Association of Globalwear Supervisory Employees Union–PIGLAS (AGSEU-PIGLAS), MEPZ Workers Alliance (MWA), Workers Organization of LAMI Food (WOLF), Prince Warehouse Club Mandaue Employees Union–LAW (PWCMEU – LAW), ILAW–Buklod ng Manggagawa-United Miners of Carmen Copper (IBM-UMCC-WSN), KEPCO Cebu Employees Union-Workers Solidarity Network (KCEA-WSN), ILAW at Buklod ng Manggagawa sa General Milling Corporation (IBM-GMC), and Bohol Alliance of Labor Organizations (BALO).

While eight other petitioners in their joint petition filed an increase on the daily minimum wage of P292.50 among private workers and P1,000 monthly for domestic helpers or kasambahay in Central Visayas.

They are Metudio Belarmino, spokesperson of Cebu Labor Coalition; Alvin Pino, president of LONBISCO Employees Organization (LEO); Melchor Atupan, president of Metaphil Workers Union (MWU); Nicholou Malazarte, president of Union Bank Employees Association (UBEA); Paul Alvin Fajardo, representative of CELAC; Clarisa Torino, president of United Domestic Workers of the Philippines; Bonifacio Tiongzon, president of Transasia Union; and Alan Gascon, board of director of the Cebu City Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (CCTIPC). — (FREEMAN)