Wage hike petitions under study

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200605110405.htm

Regional wage boards in four regions are studying the merits of wage increase petitions filed by various labor groups.

Rebecca Calzado, National Wages and Productivity Commission executive director, said yesterday regional wage boards can issue a wage order despite the absence of a petition, if the wage board deems it necessary based on the economic situation.

The wage boards, basing their decisions on the merits of the petitions, could come up with a wage order in 30 days, she added.

Calzado said regional wage boards have been responsive and sensitive to the plight of the Filipino workers in issuing wage orders.

Since the establishment of regional wage boards in 1990, a total of 170 wage orders were issued, 104 or 61 percent of which were made despite the absence of a wage petition.

"With these wage issuances, the nominal amount of minimum wages in the regions for non-agriculture has increased by 217 to 265 per cent," she said.

"In the National Capital Region, wages have increased from P89 to P325 per day. In most cases, the NCR board granted wage increases that are higher than the amount needed to compensate for wage erosion."

In a separate statement, Labor Undersecretary Manuel Imson said yesterday that wages above the minimum are best left to collective bargaining or collective negotiations between workers and their employers.

"This is in consonance with the constitutional recognition of collective bargaining as the primary mode for setting wages and other terms and conditions of employment, thus, legislating a ‘living wage’ is beyond the mandate of the (wage) boards," he said.

Imson said the regional boards exercise the delicate and difficult task of balancing the interests of workers and employers, as well as of government.

Republic Act 6727, the Wage Rationalization Act, mandates the tripartite regional boards to take into consideration various criteria in wage determination to ensure a fair and reasonable wage adjustment, he added.

In determining wages, following are the criteria:

• Needs of workers and their families.

• Capacity to pay of employers.

• Other critical indicators of national development like gross domestic product, employment and unemployment, inflation and price movements.

Last week, the Alliance of Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines filed a P75 wage increase petition before the regional wage board in Northern Mindanao

Last Jan. 25, the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines, Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union and Congress of Independent Organizations-ALU filed a petition for a similar wage increase.

Last March, the Alliance of Progressive Labor filed a petition for a P95 across-the-board wage increase before the regional wage board in Central Visayas.

The same group based in Davao Region also filed a similar petition seeking for P150 across-the-board wage hike.

Changing course, the APL later joined the call for a legislated wage increase of P125 nationwide, along with the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno. — James Mananghaya