UP unions support pay hike for gov’t employees

MANILA, Philippines - Members of the academic and workers’ unions of the University of the Philippines (UP) have expressed support for the legislations filed before the House of Representatives that seek the increase in the wages of government workers.

“Our take home pay cannot take us home,” said All-UP Workers Union national president Felix Fariñas during a press conference in UP Diliman campus in Quezon City Thursday.

He said some workers only get around P500 per week, stressing the need for the national government to support measures that seek to increase the salaries of the employees.

“The last time that an increase was implemented was in 2012,” he added in Filipino, referring to the implementation of the last tranche of the Salary Standardization Law 3.

Ramon Guillermo – national president of the All-UP Academic Employees Union – said salaries of professors and instructors have not changed even as universities now require them to have better qualifications and credentials.

“We also need decent salaries in state universities and colleges,” he said in Filipino.

Guillermo said increasing the salaries of teachers would entice fresh graduates to enter into the profession, while at the same time prevent senior faculty from leaving educational institutions.

Fariñas and Guillermo expressed support for the measures filed by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list, particularly House Bills 245 and 246, which seeks to increase the salaries of teachers and non-teaching personnel.

House Bill 245 seeks to increase the salary of public school teachers from P18,549 to P25,000 per month, and of non-teaching personnel from P9,000 to P15,000 a month.

The other bill seeks to change the minimum salary grade of public higher education teaching personnel from Grade 12 to Grade 16 – or an increase from the current P19,940 (Grade 12 Step 1) to 26,878 (Grade 16 Step 1).

No support from Aquino

During the press conference, ACT Rep. Antonio Tinio said his proposals, while getting support from his peers in the Congress, does not have the support of President Aquino.

“It was Aquino himself who said that salary increase for government employees is not the priority of his administration,” he said in Filipino.

Tinio urged government workers to put pressure on the government to change its priorities toward supporting salary increase for government employees.

He said the time is ripe to put pressure on the government as the Department of Budget and Management is currently finalizing the President’s Budget for 2015.

The congressman said their party-list has already announced its plans for activities in time with the opening of classes on June 2. He said it is the right of public school teachers to hold a mass leave if they want to protest their current situation.

“Malacañang should give in to their demands if they want to avoid mass leaves (on June 2),” he added. – Janvic Mateo