CEBU, Philippines - The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines filed a P90 wage hike petition for workers in Central Visayas before the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board-7 yesterday.
Ferdinand Jumapao, ALU-TUCP area vice president, said that the new petition is needed as the P20 increase for minimum wage earners that was granted last September 22, is already overtaken by the continuing increases in the prices of oil and its products like the liquefied petroleum gas, utilities, in basic goods and services.
The petition said that due to the continuing increases in fuel prices, automatic adjustments in rates of utilities and the resulting increases in prices of consumer products would require an additional adjustment in wages.
ALU-TUCP stated that what they actually asked is a mere P2 per year share of the growth in Gross Regional Domestic Product for the past 23 years as "equity supplement" which is equivalent to P46.00 (2X23 years).
Thus, ALU-TUCP explained that the level of minimum wage needed to restore the purchasing power of the worker's wages and to give the workers a share in the regional economic development should be P90.00 computed as follows:
P305.00, which is the current minimum wage, P5.28 from the 1.24 percent increase in prices between June 2011 and February 2012, P38.34 which represent the projected nine percent rise in Consumer Price Index and P46.00 which represents the P2 per year for every year since 1989 that there were no increase in real wages which totaled to P395.62 or P395.00, the amount which is supposed to be the new minimum wage rate by 2012.
The petition further stated that the P90 daily is needed by all employees and workers receiving not only the minimum wage, but also for those getting higher than the minimum wage, all of whom are equally disadvantaged by the price wage developments.
"All workers in the region, regardless of whether they receive minimum wage or higher, are subject to the same prices in the market and the same increases in prices of commodities," the petition reads.
It added that the P90 daily increase is essential if workers are to cope with the increasing prices of commodities and cost of living.
A militant labor organization is asking for an increase of P125 in the daily minimum wage.
Inflationary
Eric Mendoza, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that workers wages may be calibrated, but the demand of a militant labor group is inflationary.
He said that the P125 increase in wages through legislated wage hike would only result to more lay-offs and unemployment.
Mendoza added that cutting the value added tax in order to increase the workers' purchasing power may result to reduced revenue collection on the part of the government.
May Day
Meanwhile, Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu spokesperson Dennis Derige announced that that the May Day campaign will start early in time for the Holy Week break. The group will lead a "Kalbaryo ng Manggagawa at Maralita" on the first week of April that will highlight the issues of low wages, high prices, mass unemployment, contractual jobs and urban poor demolitions.
PM also slammed Malacañang's rejection of the legislated wage hike bill about to be passed by the House Labor Committee. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)