Wage board: No pay hike for Metro workers

MANILA, Philippines – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) of the National Capital Region (NCR) said yesterday it saw no reason to raise the salaries of workers in Metro Manila before the one-year ban on increasing wages ends on May 26.

In an interview, RTWPB-NCR Secretary Aida Andres noted that based on the assessments of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), there is no “supervening condition” yet to warrant a salary adjustment in Metro Manila.

“The increases in basic commodities and services do not have a major impact on the purchasing power of the workers (in Metro Manila). It was the DTI who said this – the increase is negligible,” she added.

Citing the stand of NEDA, she said the increases in gasoline prices, on the other hand, are “due to volatility brought about by certain worries in the Middle East concerning the problems in oil-producing countries like Libya and Iran.”

“Based on the inflation rate and other factors we looked into, the board believes that there is no supervening condition in the region yet,” Andres added.

She said that while the RTWPB-NCR has not found a reason to adjust salaries, it does not mean that petitions for wage hike filed before May 26 would be rejected.

“We have actually lined up several activities, including public consultations. We have been studying the socio-economic condition in the region. It’s just that there is a one-year ban, meaning we cannot disturb the wage order that we issued on May 26 (2011) for one year,” Andres maintained. –Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)