TUCP wants P75 wage increase

Worried about the looming power rate adjustments and transport fare hike, workers in Metro Manila will seek an increase of at least P75 in their daily take-home pay.

The moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group, said it would file a formal petition for the P75 across-the-board wage adjustment before the regional wage board today.

"We can no longer wait for the economic indicators to settle down, so the members of TUCP and other affiliate unions have agreed to file the petition before the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB)," TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar said.

He noted that the TUCP would file the first petition before the wage board in the National Capital Region (NCR). The TUCP’s members in other regions will follow suit.

Aguilar said they are seeking a wage increase to help workers cope with the rising cost of living and in anticipation of further increases in the prices of goods and services as a result of the transport fare hike and power rate adjustments.

Aside from the wage increase, he said the TUCP would also ask wage boards not to exempt too many commercial establishments from complying with its wage order.

Last July, the NCR wage board granted workers in the metropolis an additional P20 emergency cost of living allowance (ECOLA) in response to the workers’ demand for a P75 adjustment in their daily take-home pay.

The current daily minimum wage rate in Metro Manila is P300, including P50 in ECOLA.

Instead of a salary adjustment by the wage board, the militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is pushing for a legislated P125 across-the-board increase in the take-home pay of workers nationwide.

"Wage hikes through wage boards or ECOLA are nothing but trivial offerings to appease the growing outrage of workers over the absence of wage hikes," KMU secretary general Joel Maglunsod said.

He said it is imperative for the government to heed the workers’ demand for a salary hike and only a legislated wage increase is acceptable.

Last Monday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ruled out the possibility of wage boards granting an increase in the take-home pay of workers nationwide on May 1.

A labor official explained that wage boards "follow a process and traditionally they have to conduct public hearings and come out with a decision to increase within 30 days."

The official added that although wage boards meet regularly to assess the economic condition in their areas of jurisdiction, they have yet to set any hearing schedule for a possible wage increase.

But he stressed the boards have undergone preparations to enable them to take appropriate action on the wage issue. The official did not elaborate.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas reminded various labor groups to file a formal petition for a salary increase "before the regional wage boards as the executive branch has no authority to adjust their wages."

So far, only labor groups in Western Visayas have filed a formal wage petition.

Employers are opposed to a pay increase, claiming it would result in massive closures of small- and medium-scale enterprises and the retrenchment of workers nationwide.

Both Malacañang and DOLE have agreed that there is a need to review the current minimum wage rates considering the recent increase in the prices of essential commodities and other services.

However, they maintained it should be the wage boards that decide on how much, when and what form of financial relief — whether wage increases or emergency cost-of-living allowances — would be given to workers.