Teachers ask gov’t for P25k minimum wage

Filipino teachers on Labor Day Friday reiterated their call for a minimum wage of P16,000 for workers and P25,000 for teachers.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers secretary general France Castro said the current minimum wage, at around P11,000 a month, is less than half of the monthly cost of living (P31,000) in the Philippines.

“Even the Php16,000 (national minimum wage) is still below the cost of living but this will be much help to the workers,” she said in a statement Friday.

The group is among the organizations under the alliance All Workers Unity, which has called for a national minimum wage of P16,000 for both public and private sector workers, P25,000 for teachers and nurses and P50,000 for doctors.

READ: Gov’t workers join call for P16,000 monthly national minimum wage

Castro said he proposed minimum wage levels will “only cut around 17 percent from the profit of private companies.”

She said the government should “side with the workers and employees” and back the proposal.

Castro pointed out that Filipino teachers are among the lowest paid professionals in the country. They are also the lowest paid among their peers in Asia.

“This situation resulted in the migration of teachers abroad for better pay,” she said. “In order for us to send our children to school, we still have to apply for a loan to pay their tuition and other school fees. Like the workers, teachers call for a pay hike is a must that the state must address immediately.”

Several lawmakers have already proposed measures seeking to give public school teachers a minimum wage of P25,000.

READ: Poe wants P25,000 monthly pay for public school teachers