Wage board skeds hearing for wage increase petitions

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) for Central Visayas said that they will be holding a public hearing or final consultation on the two petitions for salary increases this Monday.

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) have both submitted petitions for a P150 increase in the minimum daily wage.

RTWPB Chairman Elias Cayanong said that the final consultation will happen at the Grand Convention Center on Monday.

He assured that there is a good chance that laborers will get something either in grants with benefits or wage increase following the recent approval of an increase in wages also for public workers.

“This means that our economy is growing because we have just recently granted but it still needs adjustment,” Cayanong said.

He said that the current minimum daily wage in Central Visayas is P250. This was set in the last wage order issued on November 11 last year.

Under the law, only one wage order is allowed every year, unless there are supervening conditions.

Last April 23, the RTWPB 7 passed a resolution declaring as extra-ordinary the increases in the prices of basic commodities. This was also confirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

Public hearings on the petition can only start 15 days after a notice is published in a newspaper. RTWPB 7 has decided to publish the notice on May 3 and hold the hearing starting May 19.

Cayanong, who is also the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said that in discussing the wage increase petition, they will consider the inflation rate, the unemployment rate, and the capability of business to survive.

Director Asteria Caberte of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 is the vice chairman of RTWPB 7.

Other members of the wage board are DOLE-7 Assistant Director Exequiel Sarcauga, Director Marlene Rodriguez of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) 7, businessman Charles Streegan and lawyer Hedelito Pascual as management representatives, and Marianito Ventura and Jose Boquecosa as labor representatives.

Cayanong said that based on a 2006 study of NEDA, a family of six needs P15,000 a month to live a decent life. — Jasmin R. Uy/NLQ