Agri workers seek P125 wage hike

Agricultural workers across the country are seeking a P125 across the board wage increase to cope with the current economic crisis.  

Leaders of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, United Luisita Workers Union, Organization sa mga Yanong Ubrero Nagkahiwasa, Kaisahan-Batangas and Lumaban sa Timog Katagalugan said in a media forum that agricultural workers are being deprived of the minimum wage, as provided by law. 

Rene Galang said at the weekly Kapihan sa Cypruss at Treehouse in Quezon City that in Central Luzon, agricultural workers should receive P207 to P273 per day, as mandated by the regional wage board, but are instead getting not more than P160.

The same goes for plantation workers in Negros who should be paid P203 but instead receive only P130 to P150.

There are similar instances of such wage deprivation in Batangas and Central Luzon, Galang said. 

The leaders of various agricultural workers’ groups said the meager pay is not enough to sustain the needs of the workers’ families. 

Gigi Bautista, of Lumaban sa Timog Katagalugan, said that although the sugar industry accounts for 11 percent of the country’s agricultural production, its workers still receive a pay far too small to support their families. 

The agricultural groups vowed to throw their collective support behind the proposed legislation of a P125 across the board wage increase.

If approved by Congress, they said the increase would tremendously help agricultural workers. – With Karla Verzonilla