C. Valley workers to get P8 wage increase?

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela — Cagayan Valley workers may likely get a measly P8 increase in their daily minimum wage, way below the P101 which the labor sector has been demanding.

Nathaniel Lacambra, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment and concurrent chairman of the regional tripartite wages and productivity board, said the P8 wage hike came up in last Monday’s consultation with representatives from the labor and management sectors.

The P8 daily wage hike for regional workers was recommended by the Cagayan Valley Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Isabela Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Isabela Electric Cooperative and the Cagayan Valley Robina Sugar Mill Corp.

If approved, the P8 wage adjustment, according to Lacambra, will be in addition to the P8 emergency cost-of-living-allowance granted to regional workers in August last year.

If this happens, the daily wage of workers in Isabela will be P201; Cagayan, P198; Nueva Vizcaya, P194; and Quirino and Batanes, P183.

Unless there will be no "bloody" debate between the labor and management representatives, the P8 daily wage increase will be approved today, Lacambra said.

The region’s labor sector has demanded for a P101 increase in the workers’ daily minimum wage, citing the continuing increases in the prices of oil and basic commodities as well as in transport fare and utility rates.