Gov't reps to RTWPB ought not to vote

CEBU, Philippines - Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board labor representative Ernesto Carreon said that the three government representatives to the board should have no voting power, as labor always ends up at a disadvantage when it comes to voting.

“Kanunay pildi gyud ang labor. But the problem is it is in the law that these three government representatives have the right to vote,” Carreon lamented, referring to representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Economic Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment.

Carreon said based on previous experience, the three representatives always take the side of the management. Aside from the three government representatives, the board is composed of two labor representatives and two management representatives.

Carreon said that ideally the three government representatives should be neutral instead of siding for either labor or management.

Carreon made this statement after the wage board recently failed to come up with a decision for the determination of the so-called “supervening conditions” that would merit a wage increase.

RTWPV-7 approved a wage increase in September 2010 and under the rules, wage boards are not allowed to adjust worker’s salaries for a year after the last increase unless they find supervening conditions that merit a wage adjustment.

For failure of the board to determine supervening conditions, in effect, they will not entertain the two wage hike petitions filed by two labor unions.

ALU-TUCP filed a P100 across-the-board daily wage hike for workers in Central Visayas, while the Alliance of Progressive Labor likewise asked for a P120 across-the-board increase in daily wages. (FREEMAN)