DOLE to workers: Wage hike still unsure

MANILA, Philippines - Workers in Metro Manila will have to wait until at least October for a wage increase, if any, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

“We just had the first consultation on the 5th of the month so it is most likely in October,” DOLE-National Capital Region (NCR) director Alan Macaraya said.

He said the process of reviewing the existing wage order and the granting of salary adjustments is a long process.

He said certain procedures need to be followed, such as the holding the consultations, public consultations prior to deliberation of the members of the Regional Triparite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).

As DOLE-NCR director, Macaraya also serves as chair of the RTWPB in the region.    

After the second consultation this week, Macaraya said, the wage board will then have to decide if there is a need to review the existing wage order and proceed to a public hearing.

“If there are grounds to review, then we will conduct a public hearing,” Macaraya noted.

He said the wage board will then agree on the amount of increase, “should there be any” after the public hearing.

Thus, he said, it is not yet definite whether there will be a wage hike or not.

There are two wage hike petitions pending before the NCR wage board, filed by the two factions of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

The faction under Democrito Mendoza sought an P85 wage increase while the group of former senator Ernesto Herrera is demanding an P83 adjustment.

The current minimum wage in Metro Manila is P456 after the NCR wage board granted last year a P30 staggered salary hike for minimum wage earners in the region.