The Associated Labor Unions (ALU) on Tuesday urged the House of Representatives to legislate a P150 across-the-board daily wage recovery increase for all private-sector workers this Labor Day.
In a statement, the labor group said the Senate has already passed a bill providing for a P100-daily increase for minimum wage earners.
It added that passing House Bill 7871 or the Wage Recovery Act filed by party-list Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) would alleviate the workers’ plight due to the rising cost of basic commodities.
“For 35 years since the last legislated wage increase in 1989, labor productivity in the Philippines increased exponentially, while minimum wages stagnated or even declined in some regions. Where is the social justice guaranteed by our Constitution, which provides for the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production?” ALU president Michael Democrito Mendoza said.
The group argued that a legislated wage increase is long overdue in the face of the inutility of the Regional Wage Boards, citing its studies on the consumer price index. This study showed that the last legislated wage increase fixing all regional minimum wages at P89 in 1989 is merely equivalent to P609 today.
“With P610 as the highest daily minimum wage for Metro Manila workers and all other regional wages averaging just P440 daily, it’s as if minimum wage-earning workers have been ‘running in place’ on a treadmill for 35 years, as far as their economic compensation is concerned,” ALU said.
Meanwhile, ALU advocacy officer Mark Villena said the average annual income earned by minimum-wage workers grew only by two percent despite national labor productivity marking at least 52-percent growth over 23 years.
The labor group added that current minimum wages do not even reach their region’s monthly poverty threshold for a family of five.
“Minimum wage families experience poverty as their household budgets fall short by as much as P3,200 monthly, on the average, for essential expenditures like food, fuel, housing, education, and healthcare,” Villena said.
Meanwhile, more than 4,000 job opportunities await Filipino applicants abroad on the Labor Day job fair to be held at Robinsons Galleria in Quezon City, according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
Moreover, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is also organizing several job fairs in 96 areas, involving 1,901 participating employers and offering 154,470 jobs as part of the May 1 celebration.
The DMW said 18 licensed recruitment agencies will participate in the activity with over 4,000 job offerings.
“With at least one job fair and Kadiwa per province, more workers and job seekers and even consumers will have access to employment opportunities and affordable products as DOLE conducts these activities on May 1,” Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said in a statement.
Production workers, customer service representatives, cashiers, baggers, sales clerks, laborers, carpenters, painters, microfinance officers, financial advisers, service crew, cooks, waiters, truck drivers, nurses, property consultants, and tutors are among the top vacancies this year.
The DOLE advised job seekers to prepare their application requirements such as a resumé or curriculum vitae, a diploma, a transcript of records, and a certificate of employment for those formerly employed.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Labor group urges Congress to pass P150-wage recovery increase