P79.66 increase in daily wages can make workers cope with the increasing prices – ALU-TUCP

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, June 27 (PIA) — The Php79.66 daily increase in wages is essential if workers are to cope with the increasing prices of commodities and cost of living.

This point was raised by the Allied Labor Union -Trade Union and Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), during the public hearing, conducted in the city, by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), region 10, last Friday, June 24.

“If workers are to meet the basic needs of their families, even if only, partially, and if the country is to give meaning and substance to the policy of equitable distribution of income and wealth, P79.66 is just enough,” Nicandro L. Borja Regional Vice President of ALU-TCUP, said.

Borja said the petitioned amount will bring to Php348.66, the level of minimum wage needed to restore the purchasing power of the workers’ wages and to give them a share in the region’s economic development.
Such amount is derived from Php256, the minimum wage in November 2008, plus Ph11.26 representing 4.4% increase in prices between July 2088 and December 2010, plus P26.40, the projected 10% rise in Consumer Price Index (CPI) between January 2011 and December 2011, plus P42 at P2 per day for every year since 1989 that there were no increase in real wages.

Borja cited Republic Act No. 6727 otherwise known as the Wage Rationalization Law passed in June 1989 mandating the RTWPB, muto propio or through petitions, to determine and fix minimum wages and to undertake studies and researches and surveys necessary to the attainment of their functions and objectives.

Since then, RTWPB issued several wage orders, the two (2) latest of which are the P12 increase in cost of living allowance (COLA) to all minimum wage earners in the private sector under W.O. No. RX-14 on June 1, 2008 and P13 wage increase to all minimum wage earners in the private sector under W.O. RX-15 effective Oct. 1, 2020.

“These increases, small as they were, have been overtaken by the continuing and alarming increases in the prices of petroleum products, transport fares and in basic goods and services,” he said.

Borja also said the raised wages would also be expected to contribute to rising local demand for goods and services, and to further sustain economic recovery.
He also added that as partners in making Northern Mindanao Region as the biggest and fastest growing economy in the island of Mindanao, it is about time that overall improvements in standards of living in Northern Mindanao be reflected in real gains in their minimum wage.

“We believe this will be just a share given the role of workers in economic development in real terms in the region and given the decades the workers have foregone real gains in wages,” Borja also said. (PIA-10)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, June 27 (PIA) — The Php79.66 daily increase in wages is essential if workers are to cope with the increasing prices of commodities and cost of living.

This point was raised by the Allied Labor Union -Trade Union and Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), during the public hearing, conducted in the city, by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), region 10, last Friday, June 24.

“If workers are to meet the basic needs of their families, even if only, partially, and if the country is to give meaning and substance to the policy of equitable distribution of income and wealth, P79.66 is just enough,” Nicandro L. Borja Regional Vice President of ALU-TCUP, said.

Borja said the petitioned amount will bring to Php348.66, the level of minimum wage needed to restore the purchasing power of the workers’ wages and to give them a share in the region’s economic development.Such amount is derived from Php256, the minimum wage in November 2008, plus Ph11.26 representing 4.4% increase in prices between July 2088 and December 2010, plus P26.40, the projected 10% rise in Consumer Price Index (CPI) between January 2011 and December 2011, plus P42 at P2 per day for every year since 1989 that there were no increase in real wages.

Borja cited Republic Act No. 6727 otherwise known as the Wage Rationalization Law passed in June 1989 mandating the RTWPB, muto propio or through petitions, to determine and fix minimum wages and to undertake studies and researches and surveys necessary to the attainment of their functions and objectives.

Since then, RTWPB issued several wage orders, the two (2) latest of which are the P12 increase in cost of living allowance (COLA) to all minimum wage earners in the private sector under W.O. No. RX-14 on June 1, 2008 and P13 wage increase to all minimum wage earners in the private sector under W.O. RX-15 effective Oct. 1, 2020.“These increases, small as they were, have been overtaken by the continuing and alarming increases in the prices of petroleum products, transport fares and in basic goods and services,” he said.

Borja also said the raised wages would also be expected to contribute to rising local demand for goods and services, and to further sustain economic recovery.He also added that as partners in making Northern Mindanao Region as the biggest and fastest growing economy in the island of Mindanao, it is about time that overall improvements in standards of living in Northern Mindanao be reflected in real gains in their minimum wage.

“We believe this will be just a share given the role of workers in economic development in real terms in the region and given the decades the workers have foregone real gains in wages,” Borja also said. (PIA-10)