TUCP seeks P86 hike in minimum wage for Calabarzon
MANILA, Philippines—The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Tuesday filed a petition with the Calabarzon regional wage board asking it to add P86 to the basic pay of workers in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) cited the continuing increases in the prices of basic commodities triggered by a series of price hikes on gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas; and automatic adjustments in rates of electricity and other utilities in the region as reasons for the need for a wage increase.
The petition was filed by TUCP president Democrito Mendoza at the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-Calabarzon office in Calamba City, Laguna, at around 10 a.m.
The current minimum pay for workers in Calabarzon is P337. If the RTWPB approves the petition, the minimum daily wage in the area would be raised to P423 for non-agriculture workers. The raise, according to TUCP, is a little more than half of the P809 per day needed by a family of six for their basic needs.
The last time the RTWPB granted a pay hike in Calabarzon was on Jan. 25, 2011, when it raised by P17 the minimum wage in the region to P337.
The TUCP said its petition was no longer covered by the law prohibiting the raising of wages within one year after the previous one was granted, except in instances of “supervening conditions” such as extraordinary increases in the prices of fuel.
Last week, the RTWPB in Metro Manila tabled TUCP’s petition for a P90 increase in the minimum wage after ruling that there were no supervening conditions to justify any increase. The petition was filed before the May 26 anniversary of the previous increase.
In Calabarzon, Mendoza, citing government data, said that as of December 2011, the purchasing power of the P337 daily minimum wage has been eroded by 42.4 percent due to inflation.
He said the TUCP arrived at its P86-wage demand by factoring in the following:
* 2.9-percent increase in prices of basic commodities and services since February 2011 to February 2012;
* The projected 9-percent increase of basic commodities and basic services from March 2012 to December 2012; and
* The P2 annual “equity supplement” or workers’ share from the profits the companies in the region made since 1989.
Mendoza explained that government figures showed that a few months after the wage adjustment in January last year, or between February 2011 and February 2012, the Consumer Price Index in areas outside Metro Manila rose from 126.1 to 129.7, or the equivalent of 2.9 percent.
The CPI measures the inflation rate or the changes in the price level of basic goods and services purchased by households for a certain period.
To compensate for the inflation, the TUCP said Calabarzon workers must be given an additional P9.77, which is 2.9 percent of P337.
The TUCP also said government agencies estimated a nine-percent increase in consumer prices as a result of the further hikes in the prices of oil and LPG, and automatic price adjustments in electricity 10 months ahead.
Therefore, the wage board should also decide to add another P30.33 to the current minimum pay.
The TUCP also asked the wage board for P2 per year in workers’ shares in the growth in gross regional domestic product since 1989 as “equity supplement” equivalent to P46.
