TUCP assails latest wage hikes

MANILA, Philippines — The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor group, yesterday expressed disgust over what it described as measly increases the wage boards approved in three regions.

According to the TUCP, the latest wage increases in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Soccsksargen regions are like “rubbing salt in the wound of every Filipino worker.”

“Even after these latest regional wage hike orders, the highest monthly minimum wages in (these regions) still fall below the already unrealistically low poverty threshold for a family of five. With the increases given, ranging from as small as P27 to only as much as P66, which are even sliced into two tranches, the increases are even less than half of the wage hike proposed by TUCP,” the group said.

The proposed measure providing for a legislated P150 across-the-board wage hike for all workers in the private sector remains pending in the House of Representatives.

Several senatorial aspirants who have filed their certificates of candidacy for the May 2025 elections vowed to pursue measures providing significant wage hikes for workers nationwide.