WV workers to get P13-41 wage hike
Workers in Western Visayas will receive an increase in the daily minimum wages from P13 to P41 starting next month, according to labor representative Wennie Sancho.
Sancho said in a telephone interview that the amount of the increase was agreed upon during a meeting of the seven-member Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Bacolod City on Wednesday.
RTWPB secretary lawyer Calixto Vallaquio said in a separate interview that the board members "agreed in principle" to the amount but it will be finalized next week before the board issues a wage increase order.
Sancho said the range of the increase was simplified according to the amount received by the employees to ensure that those receiving less will be given a higher increase.
The increase would peg the minimum wage in the region at P235 per day.
Under the scheme, employees receiving the existing minimum daily wage of P222 or above will receive a P13 increase starting October 1.
Workers receiving from P180 to P194 per day will receive a P41 increase to be implemented on a staggered basis.
A P10 increase will take effect on October 15 and another P15 on May 1 next year. The last increase, amounting to P11 per day, will be implemented on September 30, 2008, according to Sancho.
An estimated 400,000 workers in the region will be affected by the increase.
Labor groups affiliated with the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines had petitioned for a P75 increase in the daily minimum wage for workers in the region.
But business groups said they can only afford to give a maximum increase of P15.
Militant labor groups including the Kilusang Mayo Uno have called for the abolition of the RTWPB saying the board has been "inutile" in advancing the interests of workers since it was created in 1989.
The KMU and the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino are pushing for a legislated and nationwide P125 increase in the daily minimum wage.