The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday defended the P40 daily minimum wage increase for workers in Metro Manila, saying it took into account the ability of employers, especially small businesses, to afford the increase.
National Wages and Productivity Commission Executive Director Criselda Sy said that while it respects the sentiments of labor groups that the P40 increase is insufficient, other factors must be considered before the government grants their request.
“One of the criteria for minimum wage determination is the needs of workers and their families. We are also looking at their demand for a living wage. However, we need to exercise this relative to the ability of employers to provide additional wages and the overall condition of our economic development,” Sy said in an interview over GMA’s Unang Balita.
Sy admitted that DOLE wants a higher income for all Filipinos, but this is not an easy decision for Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).
“It is very difficult for our regional boards to weigh all of this and balance whatever they think is appropriate so that we can meet the wage increase demands of our citizens, especially our minimum wage earners,” she added.
Last week, the regional wage board in the National Capital Region approved a P40 increase in the minimum wage, bringing it to P610 a day for non-agriculture workers.
The increase granted is less than half of the P150 across-the-board daily minimum wage hike inching forward in the Senate and brings the minimum wage in the capital to within P140 of the P750 daily national minimum wage that labor groups are campaigning for.
“The new rates, which translate to a 7% increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the region, remain above the regional poverty threshold of P452 per day for a family of five,” DOLE said in a statement.
However, various labor groups described the increase as “too little,” saying the wage hike falls significantly short of the more than P100 wage recovery that the labor force had been anticipating, considering the rising cost of living in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The Partido Manggagawa (PM) said the order came late and the decision sided with business owners and not with the workers’ plight.
