City dad seeks more labor reps in wage board

A CEBU City councilor is proposing to have more labor sector representatives in the Regional Tripartite Wage Productivity Board (RTWPB) to make sure that the labor sector is protected.

Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon said the recently approved P20 increase in the daily minimum wage for Central Visayas was glaring proof that the board’s current composition was pro-management.

“The P20 wage increase is too small. I think it’s about time to review the mandate of the RTWPB. It’s been a long time now that their wage orders are pro-management,” he said.

Dizon said that when voting takes place, the two labor sector representatives are often outvoted by the two management and three government representatives.

“Congress should pass a law for the equal representatives of management and labor into the RTWPB,” he told CDN.

An option he said, is to prevent government representatives in the board from voting.

Dizon sponsored a resolution during the council session on Wednesday asking the wage board to hasten its deliberations and was disappointed to learn the final amount of a P20 increase.The adjustment will make the minimum wage in Metro Cebu P305 a day once it takes effect.

Dizon said yesterday that before he became a councilor, he had been discussing with labor union leaders the need to amend the wage board’s composition , and if that’s not possible to seek its abolition.

Quoting a 2008 study by the National Wages and Productivity Commission, Dizon said the ideal daily living wage for a family of six is P980. At present the National Capital Region, which includes Metro Manila, has the highest minimum wage set at P426 a day..  Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac