MANILA, Philippines - Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) on Wednesday said the P15 wage increase granted by the wage board is "unacceptable."
TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said the P15 wage hike to the current minimum wage of P466 is not sufficient for a worker and his family of five.
"This amount is revolting. Rather than closing the gap between rich and poor, government officials in the board have further widened the gaping inequality among Filipinos—between a few elite and a famished majority who live to survive by the day," Tanjusay said.
Tanjusay also challenged the members of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region to make public the formula it used as basis for the wage increase.
"We dare the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment), DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), and NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) to show the formula they used as basis for the new wage order and subject it to healthy discussion rather than allow their silence create a conclusion that the amount was taken out of thin air," he said.
Last March 6, the TUCP filed a petition before the wage board for a P136 hike, noting that the real value of the current P466 minimum daily wage is P356.64 or P7,846.08 a month, which is P932 short of the poverty threshold P8,778 per month.