DOLE studying new wage increase

Good news for wage earners nationwide.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now studying a possible wage increase to help workers cope with the rising price of fuel and other basic commodities.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said she has instructed the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to determine whether the recent oil price hike would warrant an immediate adjustment in workers’ salaries.

"I have asked the wage boards to conduct a study even in the absence of a formal petition from organized labor," Sto. Tomas said.

Last May, oil companies implemented a price increase of up to 45 centavos per liter. They are set to implement a new adjustment of 50-90 centavos per liter.

Sto. Tomas said the RTWPBs have yet to receive any formal petition, although labor groups have been holding rallies demanding salary relief.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines earlier announced plans to file a petition for a wage increase in order to cushion the impact of the oil price hike.

Militant groups, on the other hand, have been demanding a P125 across-the-board increase.

Sto. Tomas pointed out that under the law, organized labor cannot file a wage petition within 12 months from the last salary adjustment, except when there are supervening events that would warrant a new one.

"If workers strongly feel that there are enough factors for filing a new wage petition, nothing is preventing them from doing so," she said.

Government workers are set to receive a five percent salary increase in July.

The labor chief said any other increase announced by the government would have to be approved by Congress. – Mayen Jaymalin