N. Mindanao workers to get P10 wage hike

MANILA, Philippines - Starting June 20, workers in Northern Mindanao are getting a P10 increase in their daily take-home pay, the National Wages and Productivity Council (NWPC) said yesterday.

Aside from the wage hike, the workers will also receive an additional P10 daily cost of living allowance (COLA).

The NWPC said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Northern Mindanao has issued a new wage order, which also mandates the integration of the P10 COLA to the basic pay effective January 2014.

The latest wage hike brought the minimum wage rates in the region from P259 to P286 for agricultural workers, and from P279 to P306 for non-agricultural workers.

The NWPC said the wage board has also set new “pakyaw” rates for minimum wage earners in the sugar industry.

According to NWPC, the wage board will soon issue an advisory for commercial establishments to implement a two-tiered wage system or granting of performance-based pay hike.

Trade groups in the region earlier had sought an P88 wage increase.