Labor group demands wage increase

A national labor organization on Monday filed a petition with the National Capital Region (NCR) Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board for a P75 wage increase across the board.

In a statement, Rep. Raymond Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the wage increase for workers in the region is urgent because of “skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services.”

“Power and water utilities and oil firms are also planning to increase their charges and that would further erode the purchasing power of worker’s salary,” Mendoza said.

The current daily minimum wage in the country’s capital is P382. The last wage hike was approved almost two years ago.

The TUCP also petitioned the wage board to integrate the cost of living allowance in the basic wage.

The National Statistical Coordination Board earlier said that incomes must rise faster than inflation to hold poverty in check.

From June 2008 to January 2010, consumer prices in Metro Manila rose by 5 percent, and are expected to rise even further by 9 percent up to December 2010.

“If wages will remain stagnant, then more workers will certainly slide to poverty and those who are in the middle class will become the new poor,” Mendoza said in the statement.

He cited the findings of the Monetary Board and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) that the country has not been as badly hit by the financial crisis as the other Asian countries.

“The economists of NEDA are saying that the global recession has ended, so be it if they say. I believe that the economy can afford a new round of wage hikes and I appeal to our private sector partners to be more considerate this time,” Mendoza added.

Latest figures showed that the 2009 gross domestic product still grew by 1.8 percent while the country’s gross national product rose by 3 percent despite the economic crunch in 2008.

And although the 2009 figures were lower than in the previous years, the country still showed resiliency against the economic downfall, the statement said.

Regional figures also appear to support the P75-wage increase being asked by TUCP.

NCR’s gross regional domestic product increased from P220,972 million in 1991 to P468,382 million in 2008. It averaged a yearly growth of 6.6 percent.

Mendoza further said that “workers have largely contributed to the growth of the regional economy and therefore deserve to have a modest share of the fruits of economic development.”

The P75 across-the-board wage increase petition includes P19 for the actual increase of prices from June 2008 to January 2010, P35 for the projected rise in consumer price index from January 2010 to December 2010 and P21 for the 21 years that there had been no increases in the real wage since 1989.

The TUCP referred to the P21 additional increase as “equity supplement” for workers who have created new wealth but have not shared the benefits.

“The quality of life of workers must improve as the economy grows. That is the real meaning of equitable development,” Mendoza said.

The party-list lawmaker is also pushing for the revision and amendment of Republic Act 6727 that created the regional wage boards and the system of regional determination and fixing of minimum wages.

The party-list is also advocating for the provision of “emergency allowance” for workers during the economic turmoil and calamities. They are further seeking also for an “unemployment insurance” for retrenched workers.

He said unemployment insurance is needed to help unemployed Filipinos while they are still searching for jobs.–Bernice Camille V. Bauzon, Manila Times