Mandaue chamber to push for wage hike moratorium

Seeing that most of its member companies are suffering from a weak demand, especially in the export market, the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry is bent on pushing its major advocacy on wage hike moratorium.

MCCI president Eric N. Mendoza said although the plan is still immature as it will require serious discussions among members, he said if the group will agree to pursue this advocacy, it will closely coordinate with the regional tripartite board here.

"This would be an 'addressing point' while most exporting companies in Mandaue are cutting off jobs to sustain operations," he said.

Mandaue City, the host of most number of exporters from furniture, home furnishing, processed food, fashion accessories among others, is one of the cities that are badly hit by the global recession.

According to Mendoza, there is a need for the private sector to take aggressive stance in the wage board advocacy to save employment. Otherwise, companies will be forced to lay off more people next year.

"A wage hike moratorium is worth thinking for, in times of crisis," Mendoza said explaining that under this proposal companies will be given freedom to implement salary cap outside the regulated minimum wage order.

Unlike the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) or the Information Technology related companies, which growth prospects are still in shape, the export sector on the hand, is too fearful what the year 2009 will bring them.

"There is too much uncertainty in the industry. Now, exporters have depleting orders, thus most are temporary applying short-week work, or three-day work-week to sustain operations," he said.

Also a furniture exporter himself, Mendoza is calling the concerned government agencies, and members of the wage board to anticipate this kind of plea from the private sector especially next year.

Mendoza believes that a wage hike moratorium proposal is better than strictly implementing minimum wage order and pushes companies to retrench and left more people un-employed.

Majority of exporters' employees are skilled high-school graduates or college undergrad who are not qualified to jump from one job to another, like most degree holders do.

The best way to continue provide these people "food on their table" is to implement "wage hike moratorium" as band-aid solution to the financial crunch, Mendoza said.

In the furniture industry alone, an estimated 25,000 jobs had been lost by the Cebu furniture industry in the last two years, because of the weaker market brought about by the recession of the its main market the United States.

The furniture exports industry in Cebu used to directly employ a total of 80,000 jobs, 35 percent of this number and even more had been lost. More is expected to lose jobs next year, as the international orders have also decreased.

Although the value of the peso has weakened versus the US dollar, which supposed to provide "good news" to exporters, Mendoza said "what will the strong dollar do, if there is no market?."