Workers to continue seeking wage hike

MANILA, Philippines - The government’s “no wage hike” policy did not dampen the workers’ desire for salary adjustments.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Friday said that workers are not abandoning the option to seek increase in their daily take-home pay.

“There is nothing that will prevent us from seeking higher wages because more than any other time, it is now that workers are in dire need of pay hike because of recent calamities,” TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar said.

While TUCP acknowledge the announcement of the government that there will be no increase for the rest of the year, he said workers are legally free to file a petition for wage adjustments.

“We are studying our options and carefully monitoring the situation to determine whether we would file a formal petition before the wage boards before yearend,” Aguilar said.

He said many workers need additional income at this time because they need to pay for the repair of their homes and other properties damaged by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”

The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) earlier said that the wage board is unlikely to grant salary hikes due to financial crisis.

NWPC executive director Ciriaco Lagunzad said any salary increase would force many small and medium enterprises, which comprise 90 percent of firms in the country, to close down and retrench workers.

But since the one-year prohibition from issuing another wage order has already lapsed, Lagunzad admitted that they are free to seek higher wages if they would like to.

However, he said only one labor group has so far filed a formal wage petition before the wage board.

Militant workers belonging to Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) branded the government’s policy against salary increase as “cruelty to workers.”

KMU said workers should not be prevented from seeking a much desired salary increase.