A labor leader in Negros Occidental asserted that a new Wage Order increasing the daily minimum salary of workers in Western Visayas should be issued on or before June 10 this year.
Wennie Sancho, secretary general of General Alliance of Workers Association (Gawa), Tuesday, May 22 told SunStar Bacolod that based on the Revised Rules on Minimum Wage Lifting of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), there should be a new order within 30 days after the last wage hearing.
The last of the four public hearings conducted by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Region 6 was conducted in Bacolod City on May 10.
If based on the said ruling, the Wage Board is expected to issue an order on or before June 10.
Sancho, also the labor representative to RTWPB-6, said the Board has yet to start the deliberation in Iloilo City on June 6.
"We are actually too late in having a new Wage Order," he said, adding that "aside from being provided by the rule, it is high time for a wage increase given another surge in prices of petroleum products."
Under the current Wage Order No. 23, which expired on March 16, the daily minimum wage rate in non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers is P323.50.
For those employing less than 10 workers, the existing rate is P271.50.
Workers in the agriculture sector, meanwhile, are receiving daily minimum wages of P281.50 and P271.50 for plantation and non-plantation, respectively.
On January 22, the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Workers Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (Paciwu-TUCP) filed a petition seeking for a P130 to P150 increase depending on the worker's classification.
The labor group wants a daily increase of P150 for non-agriculture, industrial, and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers.
For those with less than 10 employees, the proposed increase was pegged at P130.
Under the petition, agricultural plantations with an area of more than 24 hectares should provide a P140 daily increase.
Those with area of less than 24 hectares, with P130 additional pay.
Sancho said they are expecting a series of deliberations for the Wage Board to tackle the petition as well as the additional position papers from both labor and management sectors.
Most of these "proposals" were aired during the last two wage hearings in cities of Iloilo and Bacolod, respectively.
Sancho said he will assert during the deliberation to expedite the issuance of the new Wage Order providing a "necessary" increase to the workers in the region.
"I will also make an opposition to the proposed reclassification of workers by the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry," he said, reiterating that individual workers whether in large or small companies have to spend for similar daily needs.(EPN)