TUCP fights for P75-wage increase in Region XI

Davao City (3 March) — Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) representative Raymond Mendoza filed a petition for a P75 cross-the-board wage increase in Region XI yesterday to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).

In a press conference, Mendoza bared that the petition is a non-negotiable matter as the TUCP already tolerated no wage increase in 2009.

The last wage hike was approved in May 2008 and TUCP did not push for a wage hike in the following year understanding the plight of employers affected by the financial crisis.

However, with the skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services and the expected increase in the charges of power and water, TUCP now pushes for an across-the-board P75 increase and the integration of the Cost of Living Allowance into the basic wage.

“Workers have not raised their living standards for decades while other sectors have accumulated more and more of the country’s incomes and wealth”, said Mendoza.

The Davao region, alone, averages a yearly growth of 5.1 percent in its Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP). Figures from the National Economic Development Authority showed that the region is now on the road to recovery since the global recession has ended.

From this data, TUCP asked a P1.20 per day share of this huge real wage increase in economic growth as equity supplement.

From the present minimum wage of P265, it will now be P340 per day if the petition is granted.TUCP Assistant Secretary general Alex Aguilar said that the wage hike should be across the board and region-wide.

“All workers in the region, regardless of whether they receive minimum wages or higher, are subject to the same prices in the market and the same increases in prioces of commodities,” he said.

If nothing happens in the RTWPB level, the TUCP plans to elevate it to the national body that oversees all the regional wage boards and will even explore the legislative body as soon as the new Congress resumes.

Aguilar bared that the group will max out all possible legal means before resorting to a nationwide wage strike. (PIA XI)