Gov’t urged to use excess funds to help labor

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino was asked yesterday to allocate the government’s  excess funds for programs that could provide cheaper goods and other assistance for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the country’s largest labor group, said unused budget of the government could be used to provide financial relief for the millions of minimum wage earners nationwide.

“To help the minimum wage earners cope with the rising prices of essential commodities, the Aquino government could provide subsidy or discounts for minimum wage earners from the excess budget,” TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

According to Tanjusay, TUCP will submit to Aquino a proposed measure to help uplift the lives of minimum wage earners who are now reeling under the continuously rising prices of food and other essential commodities.

Tanjusay also reported that TUCP is now preparing to file a formal petition seeking a P135 increase in the daily take home pay of workers in Metro Manila and other regions nationwide.

“We will file a formal petition within the month because the last wage order was issued in October last year,” Tanjusay noted.

Tanjusay said the TUCP had to wait for a year because the law prohibits the wage board from granting successive salary hikes in a year unless there is a supervening condition or an extraordinary increase in prices of essential commodities.

According to TUCP, their demand for P135 wage increase was based from the March 2014 consumer price index (CPI).

TUCP noted that the purchasing power of workers has significantly eroded due to the continuing increase in power rates and other basic commodities.

Tanjusay said TUCP will also be pushing to an across the board legislated wage hike.

Yesterday, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) called on Congress to prioritize the passage of the P125 Wage Hike Bill, which was filed by Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Fernando Hicap.

KMU said workers have long been clamoring for a legislated wage hike so that the current minimum wage could catch up with the with increases in the prices of basic commodities in the past years.

 “If the country’s legislators really want to do something good for Filipinos, then they should immediately approve the bill for a significant wage hike. The recent spike in the prices of food items make a P125 across-the-board wage hike nationwide even more necessary,” KMU chairman Elmer Labog said.