Tomas against hike in wages, for scrap of minimum wage

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said he is against wage increase, and proposed instead the abolition of the minimum wage by letting each employer set its own set of workers’ compensation distinct from the others.

“I’m not in favor of wage increase,” said the mayor contending that any increase would result in economic downturn because investors would be discouraged by the need to comply with the minimum wage as set by the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board.

Osmeña said the increase in pay could not even resolve the workers’ situation because it would be impossible to amend the law of supply and demand. Investors will go instead to places where they would not be bounded by a mandate for minimum wage and get more profits as a result, he said.

Osmeña then suggested that, instead of a wage hike, the minimum wage as set by the wage board be abolished and allow every employer to have its own way to compensate its employees.

The contention of the mayor is that when there is no minimum wage for the employers in Cebu to comply with, more investors will be drawn to this place.

He cited the manner other countries set the wage of their workers.  “Wages in China, Thailand, and Vietnam are lower than ours, yet they don’t have malnutrition, but we have,” said Osmeña, adding that the wages of workers in these countries vary from one particular region to another.

The proposal earlier filed by the labor unions has sought for a P150 across-the-board increase in pay for workers in the region. — Junel Joe Gato and Jo-ana Marie Desuyo, CNU-interns/RAE