After rejecting P470, wage board tackles lower daily raise in NCR
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has given due course to the P250 petitions for the increase in daily pay of minimum wage workers in the National Capital Region filed by three labor groups.
It said the P470 pay increase filed by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) was not acted upon by the board, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
DOLE-National Capital Region (DOLE-NCR) Regional Director Sarah Buena Mirasol said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board had resolved to consolidate three wage hike petitions seeking from P213 to P250 increase in the daily minimum wage for Metro Manila workers.
A separate petition for an across-the-board wage adjustment of P470 a day filed last March 14 by the TUCP, the umbrella group for Filipino workers, was not acted upon by the board, Mirasol said.
“An across-the-board increase is not within the jurisdiction of the (wage board) nor authorized by RA (Republic Act) 6727, its mandate being limited only to minimum wage fixing and determination in the Region,” read the board resolution dated March 22.
RA 6727 is the law that created the wage boards to fix minimum wages on a regional level.
But Mirasol added the board received a fresh petition from the TUCP for the same amount of adjustment, but no longer across the board. She said the petition may be considered during the board’s next meeting.
Mirasol said the wage board consolidated three other wage hike petitions for the conduct of joint proceedings to speed up wage hike determination.
“The board received three wage hike petitions and upon review, we have issued a resolution to consolidate all petitions and proceed to public hearings. We gave all the petitions due course,” Mirasol said.
One of the petitions was filed by the Unity for Wage Increase Now (UWIN) on November 25, 2019 with a proposed P213 increase; one from Metro East Labor Federation (MELF) on March 4, 2022 with the same amount of wage hike; and one from the Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (SUPER) on March 4, 2022 with a proposed increase ranging from P213 to P250.
“The petition filed on 2019 was already given due course. We have conducted consultations, however, we were prevented to pursue on the conduct of public hearings because of the pandemic,” Mirasol said.
Earlier, the tripartite wage and productivity board of the National Capital Region rejected the labor group’s petition for a P470 increase in the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila.
TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay revealed the wage board’s decision in a text message but did not give any details.
The TUCP on March 14 filed for a P470 increase in the NCR’s daily minimum wage, which would raise the daily minimum to P1,007.
The labor group cited hunger, malnutrition, and the steep increase in the prices of fuel and other basic goods as reasons for seeking the wage increase.
This developed as the country’s oil firms cut pump prices by as much as P2.30 per liter effective 6 a.m. Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.
The DOLE NCR chief also said :“We now have a schedule for consultation with the labor sector on April 8, the second one will be on April 19 for the employers group, and after that we will issue a notice of public hearing to invite not only the labor, and employers sectors but also other organizations.”
Following the instructions of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Mirasol said the board will also take consideration balancing the interest of the workers and the employers amid the current crisis in Ukraine and the rising prices of oil and other prime commodities.
“Clearly, our minimum wage earners and their families have fallen from the category of low-income to newly poor. This is a sad commentary on the social condition in our country where those who break their backs to sustain and expand the economy are now wallowing in poverty,” TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.
DOLE’s National Wages and Productivity Commission says the daily minimum wage in the NCR ranges from P500 to P537.
The TUCP pointed out that the present monthly take-home pay of P12,843.48 was “far below” the supposed monthly wage of P16,625 poverty threshold for a family of five in Metro Manila.
Earlier, the government said it wanted to raise the minimum wage nationwide to help workers and their families cope with sharply rising fuel prices that have driven up commodity prices all around.