The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and other labor groups are considering filing separate petitions for a wage increase in Metro Manila and in the provinces.
TUCP said it would file today (Thursday) a P154 wage hike before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region, saying that the real value of the current P492.57 minimum daily wage has been eroded by 24 percent.
TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said the real value of the current minimum wage is not enough to support a family of four.
Because of the low salary received by millions of workers, more than 6 million minimum wage workers joined the ranks of the working poor, the labor group said.
The labor group said the government should grant a ‘living’ minimum wage so that workers could cope with the rising cost of living in Metro Manila.
The TUCP claimed that it is high time that minimum wage earners be accorded with lost value of the peso and the workers’ lost purchasing power.
The Department of Labor and Employment said labor group’s petition to increase workers’ salaries petition will be scheduled for a public hearing and deliberation by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.
The DoLE said that the RTWPB will review the existing wage orders and l assess the socio-economic condition of the region.
“The economy is growing and yet the workers are being left behind,” according to the TUCP.
Meanwhile, the labor coalition Nagkaisa will conduct a consultation next week with various labor organizations as to how much increase they will be asking for workers in Central Visayas.
Dennis Derige, Nagkaisa convenor and Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu spokesperson, said. “We will meet next week and decide how much we will be asking.”
Apart from PM, Nagkaisa includes Sentro ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Associated Labor Unions-TUCP, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Kilusan-Makabayan, Alliance of Genuine Labor Organization, PS-Link, and Alliance of Progressive Labor-Central Visayas.