Groups seek wage increase

CEBU, Philippines —  Four labor groups and a group from the informal sector want the daily wage of workers in the non-agricultural and agricultural sectors in Region 7 raised by P308.

They filed a joint wage hike petition before the Regional Wage and Productivity Board and asked that the board also grant a P1,500 increase per month for domestic workers in the region.

As an alternative, the petitioners also support the P800 legislated wage filed in Congress.

The petitioners are LONBISCO Employees Organization (LEO) represented by its president, Alvin P. Pino; Metaphil Workers Union (MWU) represented by its president, Melchor Atupan; Union Bank Employees Association (UBEA) represented by its president, Nicholou Malazarte; and Cebu Labor Coalition (CELAC) represented by its spokesperson, Metudio Belarmino. The informal sector representative is and Paul Alvin Fajardo.

The petitioner said that the daily wage has not been increased since January 5, 2020 when Wage Order No. ROVII-22 raised the minimum wage in Central Visayas at P404 per day from P386, or an increase of P18 per day.

Wage Order No. ROVII-DW-02 was then granted for domestic workers in Central Visayas, increasing their minimum wage from P3,000 to P5,000, or an increase of P2,000 per month.

They said it is about time wage is increased given the ongoing economic crisis.

“With the ongoing economic crisis, we have no other choice but to protect the interest of the workers in Central Visayas,” the petitioners said.

They said the “crucifixion” of workers started with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines in March 2020 and worsened with the arrival of Typhoon Odette on December 16, 2021.

The wage increases two years ago, they said, have been overtaken by increases of the price of basic commodities, goods, and services spurred by the rise in the prices of oil in recent weeks and months.

“With the increases of the basic commodities, the purchasing power of the peso of the workers erodes and based on the statistics of the PSA, the purchasing power of the peso presently is P0.95. The value of the new minimum wage rate of P404.00 is only worth P383.00,” part of the petition reads.

The petitioners said present conditions in the region warrant and justifies the issuance of a new wage order.

Another factor to be considered in raising the amount of wage is the impending fare hike petition triggered by the modernization of public utility jeepneys.

“A wage adjustment is direly needed by the workers, including the domestic workers in the region and an immediate economic relief must be extended to the workers by augmenting their income by P308 on a daily basis and P1,500 for domestic workers per month to maintain the purchasing power of the workers,” the petition reads.

The petitioners reserve their right to substantiate its demand for a P308 daily wage adjustment and the P1,500.00 increase per month for the domestic workers during the hearings called for this petition.

Balance

Kenneth Co, the new president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), said workers deserve a fair and decent wage in order to provide for their families but consideration should also be extended to employers who have also been affected badly by the pandemic.

“The NLRC and the Tripartite wage board have mechanism in place to balance these needs in order to have sustainable economic growth,” Co told The Freeman.

Steven Yu, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that while they sympathize with the labor groups, these groups must also understand that it will be difficult for businesses to survive if wages are increased.

“If businesses cannot reopen due to high costs of services, then employment rate will also be affected, and there will be no jobs available. Our timing is really bad, with COVID, Odette, and Russia-Ukraine conflict aftermaths all happening at the same time,” Yu said.

Yu added that the government is doing its best to cushion the effects of the pandemic for the past two years by calling on Congress to review the oil deregulation law, as well as in easing pandemic restrictions.

“We hope that more mobility and less capacity constraints will partly offset the high costs of sustaining businesses. But it is very clear that businesses are really struggling, and hence, can ill-afford such developments,” Yu said. – JMO (FREEMAN)