All 17 wage boards to meet

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – All 17 Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) nationwide will gather in Baguio City on March 25 and 26 to explore the possible increase in minimum wages in various regions.

Director Ernesto Bihis of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Luzon said the two-day meeting was organized after workers in four regions demanded wage increases.

Minimum wages nationwide have remained frozen for two years since the start of the global economic crisis.

Bihis said leaders from Trade Union Council of the Philippines (TUCP) in the National Capital Region, Regions 6, 7, and 8 have recently sought a P75 increase in minimum wages amid the rising cost of living.

“We don’t have any such demand from the labor sector in Central Luzon but even under such circumstances, the government can intervene once it finds sufficient need for wage increase,” he said.

Bihis said the national conference of RTWPBs from all regions “will read into the economic situation” to find out whether minimum wage increase can be accommodated.

He said that in Central Luzon alone, there has been a “significant” upward movement of the consumer price index, coupled with the lowering of the purchasing power of the peso.

These two factors, as well as peso devaluation, are usually considered by RTWPB before deciding on wage increases.

Bihis said while the policy of minimum wage fixing is to protect the purchasing power of low-income workers, it is also aimed at preserving existing jobs.

The last minimum wage increase in Central Luzon was implemented on June 16, 2008 and differed according to sectors.

In a convention in Angeles City over the weekend, the Makabayan coalition of progressive groups supporting Bayan Muna party list representatives Satur Ocampo and Liza Masa as senatorial candidates, said it would still push for a legislated, across-the-board P125 increase in minimum wage.

Bihis said the wage hike petition in the NCR and three other regions cited the need to help workers cope with the rising cost of living and the demand of workers to recoup their lost purchasing power which was eroded due to spiraling cost of oil, transport fare and basic goods and services.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque stressed that “it is critical that minimum wage determination strikes a balance between providing a decent standard of living for workers and ensuring the capacity of the economy to absorb the wage adjustments and viability of business, especially small and medium enterprises.”

He also said that the decision for a wage adjustment will depend on the regional boards’ assessment of the economic needs of the workers, the capacity of the employers to pay a wage increase, and the development requirements of the region.

Meanwhile, Bihis said the DOLE has continued with its productivity improvement programs for small and medium business enterprises and provision productivity loans, especially for those who lost their jobs arising from the global crisis that started in the last quarter of 2008.

“We are zeroing in on the tourism industry because of its high potential for job generation,” he said. –Ding Cervantes (The Philippine Star)