Labor group calls current minimum wage as ‘starvation wages’

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino calls for a P750 minimum wage hike across the country on Mar. 14. Screengrab from BMP’s virtual press conference.

MANILA, Philippines — Calling the current minimum pay for workers as “starvation wages,” labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) on Monday pushed for a minimum national wage of P750.

Currently, the minimum wage in Metro Manila is P500 to P537 per day.

READ: De Guzman says to increase daily minimum wage nationwide to P750

“Napaghuhulihan na ‘yung sweldo kumpara sa poverty line. Starvation wages na sweldo dahil ‘yung poverty threshold, ‘yung basic na ‘yung minimum na nutrisyon para di humihiwalay ‘yung kaluluwa ng tao sa katawan niya ay ‘yun ay kino-compute ng gobyerno at ‘yun ay may mga pagtaas batay du’n sa kanilang komputasyon kung anong kailangan ng tao,” BMP general-secretary Mike Garay said in a press conference.

(The income is far back compared to the poverty line. Current salaries are starvation wages because the poverty threshold, the basic minimum nutrition is computed by the government and there is a hike based on their computation.)

He added that the increase in the prices of basic commodities and salaries does not keep up with each other.

“Tumataas ang presyo, tumataas din naman ang sweldo pero hindi sila nagsasabay. Ibig sabihin, may utang ‘yung gobyerno, may gap,” Garay said.

(The prices of goods increase, the salaries increase as well but they do not increase at the same time. It means, there is a debt from the government, there is a gap.)

Their call for a P750 minimum wage is to attain the Constitutional provisions for a living pay and for a “just share in the fruits of production.”

In the past weeks, the BMP has filed petitions for a P750 minimum wage in various regional wage boards particularly in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.

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