Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Labor alliance wants P160 wage hike
ANOTHER local labor group has filed a petition for wage increase with the Regional Tripartite and Wages Productivity Board in Region (RTWPB) in Southern Mindanao.
The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), its partners, and affiliates are asking for a P160 across-the-board increase in daily wages through a petition filed on April 28.
Like the Trade Union Conference of the Philippines (TUCP), which filed for an P80 wage increase early April, APL cited the skyrocketing prices of a wide range of commodities and basic services as basis for the petition.
"Immediate economic relief must be extended to the workers by augmenting their basic wage by P160 on a daily basis to acquire a real minimum wage and maintain the purchasing power of the workers. This amount, however, does not yet provide for the living wage mandated by the Philippine Constitution," APL said in its petition.
They added: "If the government cannot fulfill its constitutional mandate for a living wage, which is pegged at P664 in Region 11 for a family of six, then at least it can restore the lost purchasing power of the workers through a new wage adjustment."
The petition also states that the P160 daily wage adjustment should be extended to all non-agricultural and agricultural workers in Southern Mindanao and that it has to be mandated and across-the-board as only very few workers are covered by collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in the region.
With APL, signatories to the petition include Davao Holcim Employees and Workers Union (Dahewu), Pilipino Cable Corporation Davao Employees Union (PCCDEU), Holy Cross of Davao College Faculty Union (HCDCFU), Network of Transport Organization (Neto), Union of Self-Employed Workers and Homeless Guilds (Uswag), Dabaw Working Women's Association (Dabawenia), Young Filipino Workers' Union (YFWU), National Federation of Labor (NFL), and Akbayan Citizens Action Party. (GLP)
