DOLE rules out new minimum wage hike

MANILA, Philippines – Minimum wage earners nationwide are unlikely to get any pay hike despite the spiraling cost of basic commodities, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said there is no valid reason to prompt the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to grant another round of salary increase for minimum wage earners.

“Except for those wage boards that have yet to issue new (wage) orders based on the last round of pay hike, I don’t think any of the board would grant another round of salary increase,” she said.

Baldoz said the DOLE and RTWPBs have been constantly monitoring the inflation rate and consumer price index and they have not observed significant impact of price increases on the workers’ purchasing power at this time.

The labor chief added that the RTWPBs have not received any formal petitions from trade unions seeking increase in their basic pay.

Based on data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), eight RTWPBs have issued new wage orders since May this year while nine others were still deliberating on possible granting of salary hike.

An NWPC official said there is a big possibility that the remaining boards would not be able to issue new wage orders this year since they have just started deliberations.

A transport group recently filed a petition seeking a fare hike to help them cope with the continuing increase in prices of gasoline and other essential products.

Militant labor groups have not filed petitions for salary increase but they have been pushing for the immediate passage of a pending measure granting a P125 across-the-board increase in pay of workers nationwide.

Baldoz, however, said DOLE would rather maintain the current wage-fixing system instead of a legislated salary hike.

She added that the agency has adopted a two-tiered wage fixing system that would grant workers additional productivity pay aside from the usual minimum wage increase. –Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)