Wage hike in NCR known next week?

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) is set to grant the much awaited salary increase to minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Friday or early next week.

Esther Guirao, National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) officer-in-charge, said the Metro Manila RTWPB will likely come out with a decision soon. "Since they will have their final consultations on Friday, the wage board will likely have its final decision by that time or maybe Monday," she said in a radio interview.

But Guirao belied reports that the NCR-RTWPB is contemplating on giving a P25 wage hike, which is not even one-half of the increase the Labor Solidarity Movement (LSM) is seeking.

"It (increase) could be higher than P25 but it can never be lower than that," Guirao insisted.

She explained RTWPBs based their decisions on the agreement between the employer sector and the labor unions.

Guirao noted that not all workers will be getting wage relief since the board is considering the possibility of exempting from the wage orders industries that are experiencing financial problems. – Mayen Jaymalin