BETTER SALARY NOW / Healthcare workers from Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) and National Children’s Hospital (NCH) hold a noise barrage in front of POC in Quezon city on June 27, 2023 to urge the Marcos administration for grant pay hikes. (INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
MANILA, Philippines — Hotel owners can afford to pay its workers more as the tourism industry has already rebounded from the losses of the COVID-19 pandemic, a labor group said on Sunday.
According to the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), the tourism sector has recovered from the impact of travel restrictions brought by the global pandemic and it is now “well-positioned” to support an increase in its workers’ salary.
Citing data from the Department of Tourism (DOT), the labor group said that five million international tourists arrived in the Philippines, allowing the country to net some P480 billion in tourism receipts in 2023.
READ: Over 1.2 million int’l visitors arrived in first two months of 2024 — DOT
“FFW argues that the tourism industry is also well-positioned to support an increase in workers’ wages. This economic upturn suggests a strong capacity within the sector to accommodate the proposed P150 wage hike,” it said in a statement.
A recent DOT report also noted the Philippines’ international visitors have breached the 1.2-million mark over the first two months of 2024 — 22.89 percent higher than the same period last year.
The FFW said this is in contrast to the claims of Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) president Arthur Lopez.
Lopez wrote a letter to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, saying that the industry is still in a fragile state following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For hotel owners and managers, the labor group said, “P150 is just for coffee.”
“They should give some of that coffee money to their workers — regular, contractual, seasonal, or agency-supplied employees here in the Philippines,” FFW added.
The group likewise called on the House of Representatives to expedite its passing of a counterpart bill to the Senate-approved P100 wage hike bill so workers can enjoy an increased salary in time for Labor Day on May 1.
A P100 daily minimum wage hike bill was approved in the Senate in February.
READ: Senate approves P100 daily wage hike bill
“Trade unions are aiming for a wage hike announcement by the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr as a “workers’ gift” on May 1, Labor Day,” it said.
The House Committee on Labor is set to vote on Wednesday for the wage hike proposal’s movement to the plenary deliberation.
The proposal for an across-the-board wage hike has been opposed by some associations of employers and business owners.
They said it would be “disastrous” for micro, small, and medium enterprises because they would not be able to afford a wage hike of such magnitude.