Editorial - Business and labor need to compromise

The calls for a wage increase have again created a gap between the business and labor sectors. Most businessmen are against an increase saying they, too, are losing. The labor sector meanwhile, complains that more than anybody else, the sector is at the losing end in these difficult times.

Both sectors are actually right. They suffer greatly from any financial difficulty that the country experiences. Which is why both sectors should learn to compromise and think of solutions that would benefit them both and stop the endless debate of who is at the losing end should a wage hike be granted or not. The labor sector definitely needs the wage increase. Actually, the last wage increase given by the different wage boards in the country was and remains to be insufficient to address the needs of laborers. In Central Visayas for example, what can a minimum wage of P223 daily buy? And now, with the implementation of the Expanded Value Added Tax Law, a looming increase in the prices of basic commodities will surely add to the miseries of an already burdened minimum wage earner.

It is a fact that even if the government insists that the implementation of the Expanded Value Added Tax would not affect the prices of basic commodities, we, the public know otherwise. Check the nearest market and you will know that the prices of some products have increased, even by just a few centavos. Yes, there are price monitoring councils in all local government units. But will these councils always be in the markets to check on businessmen who want to take advantage?

The time has come for business and labor to think of a solution to the problem of granting a wage increase. The solution must be beneficial to both. The two sectors must agree on how much increase should be given - an increase that would somehow lessen the burden of price increases among workers but at the same time not hurt the business of the employer.

Business and labor should work hand in hand because one cannot function without the other. For how could businesses exist without laborers and vice versa? Businesses need the labor sector as much as the labor sector needs businesses. No matter how far we are into the world of automation and even if we are getting into the era of self-service, it is a fact that business establishments still need people to run their thing, in the same way as people would always need jobs.