Wednesday, April 23, 2008 'Local bizmen can afford wage hike'
LOCAL businesses are in the position to grant wage hikes since workers have been producing more in the last seven years, said independent think-tank Ibon Foundation in a statement to Sun.Star Bacolod.
Ibon senior economist Sonny Africa said labor productivity or the ratio of national output to employment has been rising the last decade. "Between 1999 and 2006, labor productivity has increased by 56.3 percent in nominal terms and 13.1 percent in real terms".
Thus, Africa pointed out that local employers are in a position to grant wage hikes, although this would mean they would have to sacrifice some of their profits.
A wage hike bill is currently pending in Congress, which seeks to grant workers an across-the-board increase of P125 in their daily paychecks, to be given on increments over three years. But the bill has been opposed by the business sector.
Africa further pointed out that a wage hike would be beneficial to the economy since it would boost consumer spending, which has already contributed to the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) due to the influx of remittances from overseas workers.
"Wage hikes can substantially contribute to meeting the need for increased domestic demand and, consequently, a reduced reliance on exports," Africa said.
