At least 200,000 workers in the retail sector may lose their jobs if lawmakers push through with their proposed P150 across-the-board legislated daily wage hike, the country’s biggest group of retailers warned Monday.
Opposing the legislated wage hike, the Philippine Retailers Association said the proposed measure will result in an increase in the unemployment rate and the possible shutdown of micro and small businesses.
“Our concern with the wage hike is that it will bring up labor problems. We’re not talking here of labor unrest, but more of businesses retiring or laying off workers to squeeze the wage hike into the companies’ operating budget,” said PRA president Roberto Claudio.
“The legislated wage hike must be synchronized with our inflation and ability to generate investments,” he added.
He said the PRA is convinced that many of its members are bound to streamline their workforce to accommodate the possibility of increasing the daily minimum wage by at least P100 to a maximum of P150.
“So they’ll give them higher wages, but they’ll reduce everything to the bottom. They will reduce workers, that’s a fact,” Claudio said.
He said the manufacturing sector will likely take a hit as he urged the government to allow companies, particularly those with labor unions, to work out the wage issue among themselves.
“Most companies have their own labor unions. Let them work it out,” he said.
He said retailers and manufacturers are more likely to cooperate and comply with the wage board or the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) decision on wage concerns.
Claudio said with the legislated wage hike, “everybody will be obligated to follow the law no matter how dire a company’s financial status is.”
However, senators, led by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, are pushing for a P150 legislated wage hike across the country.
“I know many businessmen will be mad at me, but they also need to share their blessings with workers,” Zubiri said.
The latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from June 19 to 23 shows that the two most urgent national concerns overall were controlling inflation and increasing the pay of workers.
Pulse Asia also surveyed Filipinos on how much they spend on regular monthly household expenses such as housing, food, electricity, water, communications, transportation, and the like.
Some 38 percent of the respondents answered P15,001 or more, while 17 percent answered P14,001 to P15,000 and only 13 percent said they spent lower than P8,000.
Respondents were likewise asked whether or not they are in favor of the proposal to increase by P150 the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector.
A whopping 97 percent said they agree with the proposal.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission approved in June a P40 increase in the minimum wage of private sector workers in Metro Manila. The order is expected to benefit 1.1 million minimum-wage earners in the metropolis.
With the latest wage adjustment, the daily minimum wage rate in Metro Manila would be raised to P610 from P570.
There are 10 other wage hike petitions outside Metro Manila that are pending with various wage boards.