Wage board move draws cheers, jeers

BUSINESS leaders hailed while labor groups decried the regional wage board’s decision to continue holding wage increase consultations.
Robert Go, former president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), welcomed the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB-7) to continue with consultations.

He said entertaining any wage increase petition in less than a year after the last approved wage hike was not ideal at this time.

The board voted to a tie on a wage increase petition recently filed by the Association of Labor Unions (ALU).

The board instead planned to hold public consultations in Cebu City, Tagbilaran City, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.

Public hearings will be held in Cebu City on May 26, June 2 in Tagbilaran City, June 9 in Siquijor, and June 10 in Negros Oriental.

Go said the prices of basic commodities remained stable, while fuel prices are going down.

He said the labor sector should wait for the lapse of the one-year period since the last wage order in August last year.

ALU information officer Joy Lim said they were dismayed with the board ruling.

She said it’s impossible that government agencies like the Department of Trade and National Economic Development Authority failed to monitor prices in Cebu, which are higher than most parts of the country.

“How many families will go hungry, how many children will have to skip school because they don’t have money?” she said.

Regional Director Exiquiel Sarcauga of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said drafting a reasonable wage increase will take time and extensive consultations. Correspondents Carine M. Asutilla and Jhunnex Napallacan