TUCP files P75 wage hike petition

The moderate labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has filed a petition before the wage board in Metro Manila, seeking a P75 pay hike.

In a four-page petition, TUCP president Democrito Mendoza cited the "continuous erosion of the workers’ purchasing power due to the general increase in prices of basic goods and commodities" as its basis.

"The real value of the minimum wage has gone down even with the granting of succeeding wage increases as the (wage board) has not granted increases which would make up fully for the eroding effect of continuing inflation," read the petition filed before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the National Capital Region.

TUCP said that the wage increase should be across-the-board and implemented in the whole of Metro Manila.

If granted, the minimum daily wage for the metro region would rise to P400.

The last wage increase order was issued by the regional wage board in the National Capitol Region (NCR) in May last year, amounting to P25. 

Meanwhile, Rene Soriano, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines said they would oppose the TUCP’s petition once public hearings start.

Soriano said that while the reasons cited by TUCP in their petition are "obvious," the focus of the business sector and the government is job generation, not a wage increase.