Friday, May 23, 2008 Banana industry favors economic aid to workers By Carlo P. Mallo
DAVAO Region's biggest employer, with more than 40,000 employees at hand, is proposing for an Economic Temporary Financial Assistance (Etfa) for its employees.
The offer is effective until prices of basic commodities stabilized and the proper wage hike may be determined.
The banana industry, which accounts for at least 40,000 workers, as represented by their umbrella group, the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), in a position paper submitted to the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board 11, has sought for the imposition of the P400 per month Etfa effective June 1, 2008.
Although the banana industry conceded to the fact that a wage adjustment is needed, it believes that the wage board should wait first until the economic situation of the country has shown some stabilization before deliberating on the appropriate remedy that it may apply to its workers.
"One of the considerations is that such a remedy would actually augment the family's basic needs and not just be eaten away by taxes," the position paper of PBGEA said. Moreover, the proposed financial assistance will begin on June 1 and will last until December 31, 2008, pending the approval of wage adjustment by RTWPB 11.
Based on the report of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc, the banana industry is still reeling from the effects of the unforeseen strengthening of the peso against the US dollar.
Also, the price of chemical inputs used by the banana industry has also surged.
The chamber has already expressed that the minimum wage in the region should be maintained and that an increase shall only be incorporated in the Cost of Living Allowance (Cola) of the minimum wage earners.
In an interview Monday, lawyer Bienvenido Cariaga, the employer sector representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) Southern Mindanao, said an increase in the Cola of the workers would only be temporary.
"It will only be to buffer the effects of the surging prices of commodities," Cariaga said.
Cariaga added that the business sector is in a wait-and-see situation now as to when the prices of the basic commodities will stabilize. Nonetheless, Cariaga said there would definitely be an adjustment.
The chamber has reported the P80 to P160 across the board increase in the daily wage sought by employees is simply unaffordable for the employers' sector.
The chamber added that the "economic condition in Region 11 as of September 16, 2007, when the board granted the additional P10 per day increase to the then P16 per day Cola, has not improved." (CPM)
