No P100 wage hike for workers nationwide

by Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star), 30 Mar 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other areas in the country are not getting any increase in their daily take home pay, at least for now.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in NCR yesterday junked a petition for a P100 across-the-board wage relief for workers nationwide.

In a two-page decision, the RTWPB said the granting of an across-the-board increase is beyond its authority.

The wage board stressed that its authority is “limited to granting regional wage increases to employees earning the statutory minimum wage rates based upon the standards established by law.”

But the board gave assurance that it will continue to review and assess the socio-economic conditions in the NCR, taking into consideration the prolonged quarantine and other factors.

Labor group Defend Jobs Philippines slammed the RTWPB’s decision, which they described as “heartless, insensitive and inconsiderate.”

“We are deeply frustrated on how this agency acts on legitimate and just demands of our Filipino workers for decent living wage, especially in this time of the pandemic. Since its establishment, our wage board didn’t contribute any significant wage increase to our working people,” Defend Jobs spokesman Christian Lloyd Magsoy said in a statement.

Magsoy said they are studying the possibility of filing an appeal and are set to take other means possible to push for a better working environment for workers nationwide.