Employers seek reconsideration of P30 wage hike in MM

MANILA, Philippines – Employers are seeking reconsideration of the wage board order granting a P30 wage hike for workers in Metro Manila.

In a petition before the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NPWC), the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said the P30 increase in the daily wage was excessive and unreasonable.

In a statement, ECOP president Edgardo Lacson said the law provides that 10 economic factors must be considered in the determination of wages.

“The grant of the excessive wage increase was clearly not based on the standard of economic feasibility and its correlation with the living and needs of workers,” he said.

Lacson said the wage board in the National Capital Region apparently did not consider the consumer price index, the capacity of employers and the impact of such wage hike on employment generation.

“The NWPC, in generalizing conformity with the legal criteria, violated its own implementing policies,” he said.

ECOP asked the NWPC to set aside the wage board ruling and come out with a new decision. –Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)