Petition for P50 wage hike gets opposition
The P50 minimum wage increase might just be a part of the wishful thinking among laborers in Western Visayas lest they think they could get it anytime soon.
This, as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region VI revealed that the petition for the P50 wage hike filed by the Trade Union of Filipino Workers met opposition from the employers’ sector.
“Normally, the workers are for the increase while the employers would oppose to it,” said DOLE regional director Aida Estabillo.
During the public hearing conducted by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Iloilo City and Bacolod City, the employers’ group like the Bacolod City Chamber of Commerce and the Iloilo Business Club begged off that they could not give the P50 pay hike for now.
The RTWPB is set to conduct the same public hearing in Guimaras.
Presently, the minimum wage in Western Visayas for non-agricultural workers is at P250 daily and P208 for those employing less than 10 persons.
In the agricultural sector, those working for the plantation get 218 and P208 for non-plantation.
The last wage increase was last December 25, 2008.
Estabillo said that the employers’ group cited a lot of factors why there should be no wage increase.
“And if ever there is, ito lang ‘yung kakayanin nila,” she added.
The main reason cited, Estabillo claimed, was the unstable prices like the supervening increase of fuels.
Meanwhile, the DOLE regional chief said that if the business sector would not go for the wage increase, “we will have to sit down and deliberate on it. If they cannot afford, we have a labor representative in the board and we have the management sector in the board to talk about it.”
Ideally, Estabillo said, “we, in the government, will just have to do the balancing act kung ano ang pag-uusapan ng dalawa based on the consolidated position papers of both labor and management.”
She also refused to foresee the outcome of the series of public hearings.
“I don’t want to pre-empt anything. I just want to see that labor and management help each other,” she added.
Estabillo claimed that a lot of factors should indeed be considered.
“Kakayanin na ba talaga ng management ang wage increase after the crisis? Kasi nag-i-increase naman sila kung kinakaya,” she added.
Estabillo said that they are more focusing on the labor force with no bargaining unit since employers with collective bargaining agreement “could take care of themselves.”
Further, Estabillo said that they don’t want to force the increase because they also have to consider the compliance rate or some businesses might be forced to close shop if they could not afford to pay their workers.
In conclusion, Estabillo said that the lesser government intervention, the better. “What’s important is that both the labor and the management is happy because it could translate to good productivity.”
