Wage board to decide on pay hike in July

June 22 ----- THE National Capital Region Tripartite Regional Wages and Productivity Board (NCR-TRWPB) is expected to decide next month on the petition of the labor sector for a new minimum wage or family living wage amounting to P1,160, or a P590 increase from the current P570 daily take-home pay.

"We will have a deliberation on the wage petition of the labor sector next week. By next month, probably we will come out with a decision," DoLE NCR Regional Director Sarah Buena Mirasol said on Wednesday after a public consultation hearing held at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City. If we grant the petition, that will be an increase. The second issue is how much [will be granted]," she added.

The latest wage increase for NCR workers was granted on May 13, 2022. It amounted to P33, which made the minimum wage rate of P533 for workers in the agriculture sector and P570 for non-agriculture private workers in Metro Manila. In pushing for a P1,160 new minimum wage, the labor sector argued that in January this year, inflation reached 8.1 percent and 8.7 percent in February, which reduced the purchasing power of the P570 minimum wage to only P488. "The continuing effect of the previous inflation resulted in the soaring prices of basic goods and services. Thus, the need for setting a new minimum wage in the region equivalent to a living wage of P1,161," it said.

Robert Maronilla of the Employers' Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said that they agreed with the observation of the labor sector, but pointed out that small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) would not be able to afford the proposed salary hike, as they have yet to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Maronilla said that if the labor sector will insist on a P1,160 increase, small companies may be forced to close shop, lay off workers or go underground.

He added that the proposed wage increase would leave out workers from the informal sector, which comprises 60 percent of the country's entire workforce. "The informal sector is big. If they are left behind, it could lead to an economic collapse," he added. The DoLE-NCR chief said that there were safety nets and exemptions for establishments that could not afford the increase.

Source: manilatimes.net