Region 7 workers to get ‘better’ wage increases

CEBU CITY – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 is set to announce a wage increase for Central Visayas workers next week, with RTWPB Chairman Elias Cayanong saying that such increase will be “better” than previous hikes in wages.

He did not disclose any figure when he appeared at the regular weekly 888 News Forum at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel Tuesday, but Cayanong, who is also Regional Director for the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) in Region 7 said the wage board is on its final stage of determining the pro rate per province and could release the figure by Tuesday next week.

“We already have an agreed amount which we came up with in last Monday’s deliberation and I can say that the amount is better than our previous pronouncements,” said Cayanong.

He, however, said that they are still in talks with business and labor sectors outside Cebu to determine the maximum amount of increases that will be implemented in other provinces. He added that there could be a lesser amount of increase in other provinces outside Cebu.

“We have to swallow the bitter pill because we cannot give in to the demands of everyone,” said Cayanong, who earlier rejected the two petitions filed by labor groups asking for a daily wage increase of P125.

The Associated Labor Unions Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) has been asking for a P100-wage increase for workers in Region 7 while the Cebu Labor Coalition (CLC) had been seeking a P128.60 increase in daily wage.

The TUCP filed its petition, taking into consideration the increasing price of goods, fuel and basic commodities along with the reported picking up of the economy.

TUCP party-list representative Raymund Mendoza told reporters that it has been two years since the RTWPB granted an increase in minimum wage in Metro Cebu, from P250 to 267 per day.

The Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), however, warned the labor group that another round of increase will surely hurt businesses as the economy has not yet fully recovered.

MCCI President Eric Mendoza is, instead, urging Government to focus more on improving job competitiveness and skills training to give workers more job options instead of increasing the minimum wage. –MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR., Manila Bulletin