Labor dares Roque: Buy basic goods with P512 minimum wage

IDOL Protesters display a portrait of Karl Marx, who wrote extensively about labor and capital, during a Labor Day rally in Manila.—EARVIN PERLAS

Moderate labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) pressed its call for a P320 across-the-board wage increase, pointing out that workers have long been treated as “whipping boys” and deserved “to live with decency.”

At the same time, militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) challenged presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to join the group in buying household supplies with P512, the current  minimum wage for Metro Manila.

“What can you buy at the present salary? You can only buy noodles, sardines. Even dried fish has become expensive,” said KMU official Jerome Adonis.

“Let’s find out if this amount will be enough for the needs of a single family,” Adonis said.

Bankrupt arguments

TUCP is pushing for a P320 across-the-board increase in minimum wage for the private sector, which would raise minimum daily pay to a range of P576 and P832.

In Congress, the militant Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives is urging government to set the minimum wage at P750 nationwide.

The labor groups assailed the “bankrupt arguments and outright falsehoods” made by the government and employers’ groups against a proposed wage hike.

“It is intellectually dishonest for them to blame labor cost,” said TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza.