P85 wage hike eyed for Metro workers

Describing the amount as just right, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Wednesday filed a petition for an P85 wage hike for workers in Metro Manila.

“We are not asking [for] too much or too little. This amount does not and will not impede current investments nor will it discourage new investors. We are only asking for a decent living for our workers and their families,” TUCP president Victorino Balais said.

This early, however, Alan Macaraya, Department of Labor and Employment-National Capital Region director, said it was unlikely that the petition would be approved at this time since this would violate the one-year reglementary period.

“I don’t think a wage hike could be approved anytime within the next seven weeks,” he explained. “The one-year period does not end until May 17. Until then, our rules prohibit any wage increase unless there is a supervening condition that the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) might consider.”

The last wage order issued by the RTWPB-NCR in May last year granted an additional P30 to Metro Manila workers in two tranches.

“It is unlikely since we have a very stable inflation rate and we have a positive growth rate in the economy so we do not see any supervening condition,” Macaraya said.

Nevertheless, he said he would present the petition to the RTWPB-NCR as part of the agency’s standard procedures.

In its petition, TUCP said the P85 wage hike was based on the difference between the current minimum wage in the region of P456 and what it called the ideal minimum wage of P541.

“The P85 daily increase in NCR is essential if workers are to cope with the increasing prices of commodities and cost of living, if they are to meet the basic needs of their families and if the country is to give meaning and substance to the policy of equitable distribution of income and wealth,” Balais said.

According to the TUCP, the pay hike should also be given to non-minimum wage earners as “all workers are subject to the same prices in the market and the same increases in the prices of commodities.”