Metro workers to get wage hike in mid-June

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) reported yesterday that the new minimum wage rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) is set to take effect on June 14.

Aida Andres, NCR wage board secretary, said the amended wage order has been confirmed by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and is ready for publication.

“The wage order is coming out in a national broadsheet on May 30 and thus will take effect 15 days after or on June 14,” Andres disclosed.

Last May 16, the NCR wage board approved a new wage order granting a P5 increase in basic pay and additional P15 cost of living allowance (COLA) for workers in the region. The wage adjustment brought to P382 the current daily minimum wage rate for private sector workers.        

 Andres noted that the new wage order in the NCR has undergone a “minor” revision due to the inclusion of a provision granting exemption to companies classified as “indigenous exporters.”

According to Andres, under the revised version of the wage order, the exemption for indigenous exporters will be subjected to the criteria and requirements to be provided in the new implementing rules.

“It’s the first time that the NCR wage board revised a wage order and incorporated additional exemption so we have to meet in June to discuss the implementing rules,” Andres explained.

Earlier, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) protested the delay in the publication of the newly approved wage order, which could also defer the effectivity of the wage hike.

The TUCP said workers in Metro Manila are supposed to get the much awaited wage adjustment first week of June, but it has become impossible due to delay in the publication of the new wage order.

It was reported that the NWPC could not issue the confirmation on the wage order due to disagreement on the exemption for indigenous exporters. The workers are strongly against the exemption.