NCR wage board: Fuel prices warrant review of wages

MANILA, Philippines – The non-stop increase in fuel prices now warrants a review of the current minimum wage, majority of the members of the National Capital Region (NCR) wage board voted on Tuesday.

A source said the wage board has decided to entertain wage petitions even if a moratorium has not yet lapsed.

The wage board’s resolution will only take effect upon approval from the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

There is usually a one-year moratorium on wage hikes. The last one, which set the minimum per worker at P404 per day, was decided in July 2010.

The source said the chairman of the wage board, including representatives from the labor sector and the Department of Trade and Industry, “outvoted” the representatives from the employer’s sector.

This morning, the public again woke up to another round of increase in fuel prices. Oil firms increased prices of unleaded gasoline and diesel by P1.50 per liter, regular gasoline by P1.25 per liter and kerosene by P1.40 per liter.

Militant groups said they will bombard Malacañang with protest rallies if it will not certify as urgent the P125 across-the-board increase they have been long been asking from Congress.

Malacañang, however, said the legislated wage hike would unduly cause an inflationary spiral. –Ira Pedrasa, abs-cbnNEWS.com