TUCP seeking P100 wage hike

CEBU, Philippines – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) will file a petition before the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board tomorrow for a P100 across-the-board wage increase in the Visayas.

Speaking before more than 1,000 labor leaders and supporters during their Area Council Meeting yesterday, TUCP Representative Raymund Mendoza said they already filed a similar petition in Luzon and Mindanao.

But the business sector opposed such move, saying any move for a wage increase is untimely as the country is still reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis.

Sammy Chioson, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that increasing wages at this point would only result to retrenchment of workers.

Mendoza said after consultation with their leaders and officers in the Visayas, they decided to come up with a petition seeking for a P100 wage increase.

He said in 2009, they did not seek any wage increase because of the global crisis. But with the increasing prices of basic commodities today, there is a need for another wage hike.

Mendoza also said that TUCP will also ask the wage board to review the salaries of househelpers, citing that some of them only receive P500, P800 and P1,000.

The move of the TUCP gained support of Nationalista Party senatorial candidate Susan Ople, whose late father was the secretary of the Department of Labor.

“Maganda yung ginagawa nang TUCP partylist para sa mga nangangailangan na mga workers,” Ople said.

According to Mendoza, the P100 wage increase is needed by the workers who are suffering from the relentless increases in basic commodity prices since June 2008.

In Central Visayas, the minimum wage is P267 and TUCP proposes that it be raised to P367.

According to Mendoza, it is now the turn of the employers to sacrifice a little of their profits for the benefits of the workers.

He said the P100 wage increase is essential for workers to cope with the increasing cost of living, recalling that the last wage hike happened in 2008.

But Chioson said increasing wages at this time when the country is still recovering from the crisis might only lead to job losses.

“Daghan man walay mga trabaho karon. We are still recovering from crisis. Increasing wages may result to more unemployment,” Chioson said.

Chioson, however, said it is up to the wage board to decide for a wage increase.

Eric Mendoza, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the P100 increase that the TUCP is asking is too high.

“We are still in the path of economic recovery unya og matandog na siya nga situation, basin mas daghan ang mawagtangan og trabaho,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza added that increasing wages would mean the country would be losing competitiveness against its neighboring countries.

Aside from the Associated Labor Union-TUCP, the Cebu Labor Coalition (CELAC) had earlier filed a P128.60 across-the-board wage hike petition for Central Visayas before the RTWPB last September 22.

The current minimum wage rates in Central Visayas are – for non-agriculture sector – P267 (Class A), P246 (Class B), P237 (Class C) and P222 (Class D).

For the agriculture sector (non-sugar sector), the minimum wage rates are P249, P232, P217 and P202. For the sugar sector, the minimum wage rates are P217, P217, P217 and 217, while for the sugar mills sector, the minimum wage rates are P237, P237, P237 and P237. — /LPM (THE FREEMAN)
–Jose P. Sollano, Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon (The Freeman)