ECOP: Many firms can’t pay wage hike

Many companies cannot afford the P25 increase in the basic pay of workers in Metro Manila and are likely to seek exemptions from implementing the new wage order, the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said yesterday.

ECOP president Rene Soriano said small and medium enterprises would be hard-pressed to grant the wage hike, which would take effect on June 16.

"Some employers can afford it, but more of the companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, are likely to seek exemptions," he said.

ECOP chairman Miguel Varela said his organization would not appeal the decision by the Metro Manila wage board but would allow its members to file for exemptions from wage order NCR-11.

"We would no longer appeal the board’s decision, but those who cannot afford to pay salary increases will be filing exemptions before the National Wages and Productivity Commission," he said.

ECOP warned earlier of massive retrenchment and the closure of commercial establishments if the government compels employers to grant salary increases.

The ECOP position contrasts with that adopted by another business group, the Philippine Chambers of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

PCCI chairman Donald Dee said the increase granted by the Metro Manila wage board was the "best" that employers could afford.

"For now, that is the best that we can give. Any amount higher than P25 could no longer be afforded by employers," he said.

The wage order would raise the minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from P300 to P325 per day.

The NCR pay increase is considered more significant than the increases in the cost of living allowance (COLA) granted to workers in other regions since it would figure in the computation of overtime and 13th month pay.

Not Enough

But labor groups from across the ideological spectrum dismissed the recent round of wage hikes as "inadequate" and even "insensitive."

In a statement, Malacañang appealed for patience from the workers.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the wage orders were an attempt at a compromise.

"This is an effort to come up with a middle ground to address the needs of workers and the needs also of the entrepreneurs to make both ends meet. We believe this is a win—win situation," he said.

Bunye said the administration is "looking for other measures that would alleviate the plight of workers."

Alex Aguilar of the moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) described the wage hikes as "ridiculously low."

"We find the wage increase in the (NCR) sorely inadequate. It does not restore the lost purchasing power of workers and is not enough to cover for the increases in the prices of essential goods and commodities," he said.

Aguilar said the TUCP will appeal the decisions of the different wage boards next week.

Radical labor groups and their representatives in Congress accused the wage boards of "treating workers like beggars" and called for their abolition.

In a statement, the Partido ng Manggagawa, a party-list group affiliated with Bukluran ng Manggagawa (BMP), denounced the wage increases as "pittances" that "insult the dignity of labor."

Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran acknowledged the Metro Manila wage increase as a minor "political victory" but said "the fight is far from over."

"Workers should not be grateful," he said.

Anakpawis is affiliated with another radical group, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), which recently formed an alliance with the BMP to push for a legislated P125 wage increase.

BMP secretary general Leody de Guzman described the wage order as "very insulting" to workers.

"A P25 increase in NCR and the P10 to P20 increase in other regions are mere pittances. This is how low the government regards the Filipino workers: it squeezes them with more taxes and leaves them to subsist on starvation wages," De Guzman said.

BMP members stormed the NCR wage board office yesterday morning to protest that the present wage level was barely enough to cope with the rising cost of living.

Quoting the National Wages and Productivity Commission, the BMP said the cost of living in NCR is pegged at P663 a day.

The call for the abolition of the wage boards was also the subject of a press statement by the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), which described the increases as "crumbs."

The wage boards, the APL said, have proven themselves "incompetent and insensitive to the workers’ plight by approving measly amounts." — With Katherine Adraneda, Paolo Romero, Benjie Villa