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Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Oro Chamber to meet on P75 wage hike bid
By Danilo V. Adorador III
A NATIONWIDE labor organization has formally filed Tuesday for a P75 across-the-board salary adjustment petition for Northern Mindanao, confirmed a high-ranking regional Labor official.
Nicandro Borja, regional vice-president of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) signed the petition, said Ponciano Ligutom, Department of Labor and Employment regional director.
The petition sets in motion the focal demand of the country's workers on Labor Day, largely anchored on soaring oil prices that affects basic commodities including the public transport sector.
But Cagayan de Oro City Chamber of Commerce (Oro Chamber) President Ruben Vegafria immediately junked ALU-TUCP's wage hike proposal, saying it was too excessive and impractical.
"That's too high, it's way beyond the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) assessment," Vegafria said, referring to BSP's recent P25 salary adjustment recommendation for the entire country.
Oro Chamber is expected to meet Wednesday to form a collective stand on wage proposals.
Myrna Callo, Supervising Labor and Employment Officer at the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board in Northern Mindanao said consultations with labor and workers' groups on wage issues in the region have been ironed out even before ALU-TUCP's petition.
She said the board, composed of labor officials and representatives from workers and employers, will hold their regular meeting on May 10 where the petition is expected to be tackled.
Director Ligutom said the board will speedily act on the petition, but declined to comment whether the P75 additional proposal was tenable.
The last wage adjustment was on June, in which the tripartite body agreed to an additional P16 on Cost of Living Allowance for basic wage earners.
ALU-TUCP wants a raise on basic wage income, not on Cola, and clarified in its petition that only workers earning the minimum salary will be covered under the P75 proposal.
Wage adjustment petitions are considered the regional economic indicators, Ligutom said. Among these are: Employment and un-employment rate, Consumer Price Index.
"In considering wage adjustment proposals, we need to look at the capacity of the employers to pay, the purchasing power of employees and the need for socio-economic development," he said. "It must always be a balancing act."
Vegafria agreed, saying the business sector supports a "just" and "equitable" wage adjustment.
ALU-TUCP's petition comes only a day after expressing on Labor Day that a P70 to 75 wage increase was needed to cushion the effects of current "price-wage developments."
The group is the biggest trade union in the country with extensive membership in a number of huge businesses.
(May 3, 2006 issue)
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