THE labor sector, through the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (NACUSIP-TUCP), filed a P99 wage hike petition before the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas.
RTWPB labor representative Wennie Sancho said they filed the petition because they see a clear supervening condition or basis for another wage increase even though the last wage order was issued in less than a year.
He said a wage increase is urgent now because of the continuous hike in the prices of petroleum products that also triggered a price increase of other commodities. “We need to have a purchasing power over these increases.”
The RTWPB already met in Iloilo last Saturday after the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) ordered the wage board to study the effect of the increases in the prices of commodities as triggered by the substantial hike in fuel price.
The present minimum wage for Western Visayas is at P265.
But businessmen belonging to the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) already said any wage hike is bad for now.
“At this time, we could not see an end to the massive increases in the prices of petroleum products that drive the prices of other commodities to also go up,” MBCCI president Frank Carbon said.
He cited the situation in Middle East where the crisis seems to be getting worse like in Libya and the latest in Ivory Coast.
Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr. also said that if there is any wage hike, it should be implemented on selective basis only in the province.
“Wage hike should depend on the industry that can afford to give them to their employees. Like in the sugar industry where most here are small farmers whose family members would only work to cultivate their farms. If there is an increase, very few big planters can afford it,” he said.
Meanwhile, another fuel price increase is expected this week with oil companies citing the price of crude oil at the world market as basis for the hike.
Last week, an increase of .25 centavos was implemented by the oil companies on gasoline. — Sun.Star Bacolod
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