GOVERNOR Joseph Marañon welcomed the decision of the Regional Tripartite and Productivity Board for a P10 to P15 wage increase.
Marañon said the hike may not be enough to address the workers' demand for a P65 wage increase, however, the employers could not afford to give such.
The governor added employers would no longer need any wage order if they can afford to hike their workers' wages.
Militant group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino - Negros, on the other hand, reiterated their call for the abolition of the RTWPB and for the creation of the Nation Living Wage Commission that will take care of the working class' legitimate demands for wage recovery and wage hikes.
The group said the national commission that they are proposing shall have no regional boundaries because they believe workers all over the country knows no differences and boundaries.
The group added the demands of the labor sector nationwide are the same.
"This is what we must do. Let us not cease our will and determination for we only ask what is due us - a living wage is due to each Filipino worker," the group stressed.
They further said the latest wage increase of P10 - P15 as ruled by the regional wage board is an insult to the working class.
They said history has proved that since then, RTWPB's creation has not been serving for the benefit of the working class.
"To us, it is an insult to the will and capacity of the toiling working class that has created vast wealth and profit for the capitalist leaving the workers at their mercy," BMP added.
The group also said the various demands of the working class groups, including that of BMP and its allied organization, for an increase of P65 is met with a measly amount that is not a wage increase but an adjustment being part of the workers Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
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