DOLE: No pay hike in typhoon-hit areas in 2014

MANILA, Philippines - Job opportunities, but no pay hike for people from typhoon-affected areas in the coming year, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards in the typhoon-ravaged areas are least likely to grant any wage increase for minimum wage earners in 2014.

Baldoz said the wage boards, particularly in Eastern Visayas, are not undertaking any regular consultations on any wage increase.

“I (will) defer all consultations on any wage increase, which means that Yolanda victims cannot expect any pay hike,” she said.

Baldoz said the National Wages and Productivity Commission, a DOLE attached agency, would submit to the President for approval a report on the deferment of wage consultations for typhoon-affected regions.

Last year, the wage board in Northern Mindanao also deferred consultations after Typhoon Pablo ravaged Cagayan de Oro City and other areas in the region.

Baldoz said the deferment of wage consultations is aimed at helping commercial establishments severely affected by the calamity and could no longer afford any additional operational costs.

At this time, Baldoz said, half of commercial establishments in the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc in Leyte remain closed due to the devastation brought by Typhoon Yolanda, resulting in the displacement of about 12,000 workers.

For the coming year, Baldoz said the government has allocated funds for the implementation of emergency employment and alternative livelihood programs for workers displaced by Yolanda.