DoLE: Eight wage hike petitions awaiting decision

After an increase in the wages of workers in Metro Manila was recently approved, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz over the weekend said there are at least eight wage petitions pending with other Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) nationwide.

“There are at least eight petitions pending. The petitions range from P50 to P128.60 across-the-board daily wage increase, and RTWPBs concerned are currently holding a series of sectoral consultations and public hearings on said petitions,” Baldoz told a press conference.

She said the RTWPBs of Region 7 and the Caraga Region are in the advanced stages of consultations and deliberations and are expected to issue their wage orders soon.

Earlier, the RTWPB in the National Capital Region issued out Wage Order 15, granting a P22 daily wage hike for all minimum wage earners in the private sector in the NCR, or Metro Manila.

The rules and regulations for the wage order were issued last June 29, while the implementation of the increase should have taken effect last July 1.

The latest wage order has set the minimum wage in the NCR at P404 per day for non-agricultural workers and P367 for workers in the agriculture sector, private hospitals with bed capacity of 100 or less, retail/service establishments with 15 or less workers and manufacturing establishments with less than 10 workers.

As in previous wage orders, a one-year exemption may be granted to certain establishments, such those in financial distress, retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers, establishments whose total assets are not more than P3 million, and establishments adversely affected by natural calamities.

The wage order has set the deadline for firms or establishments to file a petition for exemption to the wage increase on September 15. –Mina Diaz, Daily Tribune