Those above minimum get nothing: Minimum wage up by mere P17

There would be an increase in the minimum wage for Central Visayas.

However, workers can’t celebrate as only an additional P17 per day was granted, which is just a shade over ten percent of the P150 that the labor groups have clamored for.

Thus, with the increase, the minimum wage in the region is now P267 per day.

The increase is not also across the board.  This means that those who are already receiving more than the new minimum wage will not get any increase.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, meeting at the Casino Español, took only more than an hour to arrive at the decision.

Workers were disappointed by the decision and called the amount granted too small in the light of the existing economic crisis.

Only last Wednesday, the government allowed jeepney and bus fares to increase by 50 centavos and P1, respectively.

On the same day, world oil prices hit new records of above $130 per barrel and which are expected to severely affect prices of food and other commodities.

A food crisis has driven up rice prices the past several months, making lives more miserable for the millions of Filipinos who live below the poverty line.

Department of Labor and Employment regional director Elias Cayanong, who presided over the board meeting last night, said the P17 increase will be implemented across the region with the workers in the categories A, B, C, D to receive the same amount.

Cayanong said that it was not hard for the board members to come up with the decision because all of the board has already earlier determined a “supervening condition” that guarantees the need to hike wages in the region.

“The management and the labor sectors are very cordial. Of course, there were disagreements. Both parties are in favor of the increase, the only problem was the amount that has to be reconciled,” Cayanong told The Freeman last night.

The RTWPB is composed of one representative each from the DOLE, Department of Trade and Industry and the National Economic Development Authority, and two representatives each from the management and labor sectors. The DOLE director sits as board chairman of the board but he is only allowed to vote in the event of tie.

Labor sector representatives — lawyer Jose Boquecosa and Marianito Ventura first proposed for P150 increase, which the Alliance of Progressive Labor and the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines have petitioned.

But the four remaining members of the board opposed because P150 is too high, prompting Boquecosa to bargain for P35, which Ventura seconded.

The representatives from management and government sectors again opposed the P35, which Boquecosa later lowered to P30, P25, and so on until it reached P20.

It was then the management representatives proposed for P17, which the two labor representatives disapproved.

The board voted 4-2 in favor of the P17 hike with the representatives of the management and government sectors voting yes while the two labor representatives voted no.

“Again, we were outnumbered that’s why the P17 was carried,” Boquecosa said.

Jose Tomongha, chairman of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, one of the groups that petitioned for P150 increase described the amount approved by the RTWPB as a “consuelo de bobo.”

“It’s not a good decision because we asked for P150. The amount that we asked is not even an increase but adjustment for workers to be able to adjust to the high cost of commodities,” Tomongha said.

He said they believe the regional wage board was pressured when President Gloria Arroyo earlier gave the RTWPBs across the country to come up with new wage orders before the month of May ends.

Joy Lim, Alliance of Progressive Labor information officer, said they already expected that the RTWPB 7 will grant a wage increase lower than what was given to workers in the National Capital Region, where P20 increase in wage was granted last week.

“It is not enough. Pero ang problema walay mahimo atong labor representatives kay duha ra man sila kontra sa upat,” Lim said.

She said the recent decision of the board is just a “minimum fixing” because those who are receiving above minimum are not entitled to receive the increase.

But Cayanong said the board’s decision is just and fair because the board members have also to consider the plight of the business community.

The business sector earlier warned that a new round of wage increase might force more companies to shutdown operations that could result to massive job losses for workers in Central Visayas. 

They said that implementing a wage increase, even on staggered basis, is not feasible with many companies especially the ones that are inside the export processing zones.

Cayanong said the P17 increase is a win-win solution for both the employers and workers. –(/NLQ)