New Labor Code to abolish wage boards

By Ronilo L. Pamonag

The proposed Labor Code will abolish the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB), Albay 1 st District Edcel Lagman said here recently.

The reason for the creation of the regional wage boards did not happen, Lagman told a gathering of government officials, non-government organizations, labor groups, businessmen, and labor law professors during a public consultation Friday on the proposed amendments to Presidential Decree 442 or the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Anakpawis partylist Rep. Crispin Beltran, who also attended the public consultation, expressed support for the abolition of the RTWPB.

Lagman, a member of the House committee on labor and employment, explained that the RTWPB, the government agency tasked with fixing the regional minimum wage rates, was created so that industries which are seeking lower labor costs will be dispersed in the entire country. A regional wage board is composed of the Regional Director of the Department of Labor and Employment as chairman, regional directors of the National Economic and Development Authority and Department of Trade and Industry as vice-chairmen, and two members each from the workers and employers sector to be appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Labor secretary.

“But this did not happen,” he pointed out.

Lagman also noted that conditions regarding wages in various regions are affected by the same factor.

“So there is no justification for the disparity in wages,” he commented.

He also echoed the observation of militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno that the wage boards have failed to enact ‘substantial' increase in wage rates.

“Oftentimes, the representatives of the government and the management conspire to set a lowest increase as possible,” Lagman said, “so the workers lose.”

In lieu of the regional wage boards, Beltran proposed that it should either be Congress or the Executive which should be fixing the minimum wage rates for the whole country.

There are three pending bills right now proposing amendments to the Labor Code. These are Senate Bill 1049 and House Bills 1505 and 2728 by Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Rep. Roseller Barinaga respectively.

Beltran said that the Senate and House committees on labor and employment would conduct two more public consultations on the bills. They have already conducted a similar hearing in Luzon earlier.

After they have finished with their consultations, the committees will be deliberating on the feedbacks.