APL asks for P121-wage adjustment

CEBU, Philippines - The Alliance of Progressive Labor has submitted yesterday afternoon its petition for a P121.84 across-the-board adjustment in daily wages.

But the APL clarified that this is not a request for an increase but an “adjustment.” The amount, the union says, should have been applied already in the current salary basing on the computation of the consumer price index.

Boboy Belarmino, counsel of APL, explained that they determined the amount of P121.84 from the computation using the Consumer Price Index of Region 7.

He explained that they got the CPI in the region from 1989 to 2011, after changing the CPI to 2011, so the result showed that the needed wage daily should be P426.24. The deducted the current wage of P305 and they got the P121.84 result.

In their petition, APL stated that their first factor in petitioning for the adjustment under section 2, Rule II of Republic Act 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act is that the current minimum wage has fallen way behind the rate for a daily living wage in Central Visayas for a family six.

 Other factors included are the “increase in the prices of basic commodities, demand for a living wage and that insufficient increases of the minimum wage from the past granted by the wage board has created additional gap to the living wage vis-à-vis the minimum wage, wage adjustment vis-à-vis the consumer price index, the cost of living in the region is beyond the purchasing capacity of the workers and the high inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the peso of the workers.”

They also included the unstable oil prices, R-VAT, Electric Hike, and the transportation fare hike as factors for the need of a wage adjustment.   

Belarmino said that they are not worried that there would be a decline in job opportunities or retrenchment if the wage adjustment would be approved.

“Since 1989 up to this year, wala pa mi nakakita og retrenchment tungod sa increase but tungod sa competition.”

Belarmino said that after the submission of the petition, they will be waiting for a schedule of the public hearing.

He said that they are hoping it would be granted before November or latest would be before Christmas day. — (FREEMAN)