Labor won’t press bid for pay increase

Organized labor opted yesterday not to seek any wage increase for the remainder of the year due to the economic slowdown.

The Labor Solidarity Movement (LSM), a confederation of trade unions led by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), said labor groups are deferring the filing of formal petitions for a wage increase until next year.

President Arroyo welcomed the "patriotism" of the workers in deferring their petition.

"We cannot deny the fact that workers are in dire need of salary increases, but we have to make some sacrifices at this time and defer the formal filing of wage petitions just to prevent further retrenchment of workers," Trade Unions of the Philippines and Allied Services (TUPAS) president Vladimir Tupaz said.

However, the LSM and its affiliate unions vowed to pursue wage increases through collective bargaining in companies with the financial capability for it.

Tupaz said the LSM reached the decision after a series of consultations and thorough deliberations among leaders of the different member unions.

"What is of paramount concern to us in this period of crises is for the workers to remain in their jobs, for the industries to survive, and for the factories to remain stable. We do not want to jeopardize whatever workers are holding on to right now," Tupaz stressed.

He explained that the economic environment in the country at this time is not "conducive for talks on wage increments" with hundreds of companies considering retrenchment of workers or closures to cope with the financial woes.

"We do not want the employers to make use of the wage issue as an excuse to lay off workers," Tupaz said.

Data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) indicated that a total of 51,895 workers were laid off from their jobs in the first seven months of the year.

Tupaz also noted that over four million are out of jobs, 80 percent of companies are not complying with mandated minimum wage and other labor regulations, the county is losing out to neighboring countries with depressed wage, there is a continuing threat of war in the Middle East and the peso continues to slide.

TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar affirmed that despite the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States, the Philippine economy was much better last year compared to this time.

Seeking wage increase at this time, he said, may be a futile effort because the wage boards could just reject the petition or grant "unacceptable" wage adjustments.

Last year, the LSM and its affiliate unions sought wage increases ranging from P50 to P90 a day. Acting on the petitions of the labor groups, 11 wage boards granted adjustments, the biggest of which was the P30 emergency cost-of-living allowance for workers in Metro Manila.

But to help the workers cope with the economic hardships, the LSM is set to present before DOLE a10-point demand, including the immediate enactment of a law exempting workers earning less than P15,000 a month from paying taxes.

Other demands include housing for workers, no increase in social security contributions, no increase in power and water rates and no transport hike.

Aguilar said LSM is giving the government until the end of the year to address their demands or they may be forced to review their position on not filing a wage petition.

"We have taken a very politically risky position. In exchange, the government should do something to help the workers," he said.