Floor wage hike this year

Private sector workers in Central Visayas can expect an increase in the minimum wage this year.

“Our closest timeline is within this year,” said Exequiel Sarcauga, chairman of the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board in Central Visayas after a meeting yesterday.

What convinced board members to decide was the report from the National Statistics Office showing the inflation rate in June rising from May’s 4.6 percent to June’s 5.1 percent, said Sarcauga.

The figures already exceed the target inflation set by the Central Bank at 3 percent to 5 percent.

This increase changed the minds of those who earlier opposed a floor wage hike, said Sarcauga.

No voting was made. The decision could be considered a unanimous one, he said.

Under the Labor Code, no wage order can be disturbed within 12 months after a previous wage order is issued except when there is a supervening condition like sharp inflation or extraordinary increases in the prices of gasoline and basic commodities.

The board yesterday declared the existence of “supervening conditions” in Central Visayas that would justify adjusting the floor wage earlier than a year.

More meetings are ahead to determine the amount of the increase and how it would be implemented, including possible exemptions.

The last wage increase was issued in September 2010.

The existence of “supervening conditions” is a requirement in the Labor Code to merit approving a wage increase sooner than one year from the last one.

The wage board’s decision capped three months of deliberation and public hearings.

The board will be able to deliberate and implement the wage increase within the year, said Sarcauga, who is also regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Sarcauga said majority of the wage board members present agreed that supervening conditions existed.

Of the seven members, Hidelito Pascual, who represents the management sector, didn’t attend.

Those present were Sarcauga, Regional Director Asteria Caberte of the Department of Trade and Industry, Assistant Regional Director Efren Carreon of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA7), standing in for Regional Director Marlyn Rodriguez for the government side; lawyer Ernesto Carreon and Marianito Ventura from the labor sector; and Charles Streegan from the management sector.

Two two petitions for a wage increase are pending before the board.

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) is seeking a P100 across-the-board daily wage increase, while the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) asked for P120/day wage increase.

The board decision declaring the supervening condition will be sent to Manila today as required by guidelines. Once confirmed, it will be sent back and the board would publish the two pending wage hike petitions in a newspaper and hold public hearings after that.

Sarcauga said only one public hearing will be held in Cebu City.

Sarcauga said they will invite all the concerned sectors to submit position papers. The board will meet again on July 26. –Candeze R. Mongaya, Jhunnex Napallacan, Cebu Daily News