Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Gov’t favors calibrated wage hike
THE members of the Arroyo Cabinet informally agreed to the granting of a calibrated wage increase in view of rising prices of commodities particularly rice and fuel, acting Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said.
This developed as the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) sought P80 to P150 across-the-board increase in daily wage.
“There is an informal consensus that we are supporting a wage increase, but I said it has to be calibrated. The wage boards will decide on it,” said Santos, in an ambush interview before the start of the Cabinet meeting at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Santos said while the law prohibits more than one salary increase in a year, there is an exception to the rule which could apply at present.
He said the rising costs of rice and oil, which is two of the important commodities, should be taken into account by the regional wage boards. The last wage increase was in August 2007.
“Under the law there is exception to that rule, if there are unusual circumstances like there are abnormal or extraordinary increases in the prices of basic commodities, the regional wage boards can consider an upward adjustment of the salary,” he said.
Santos said at the time the wage increase was approved in August, the prices of oil in the world market was still around US$30 per barrel which has risen to about US$100 to US$110 per barrel, while the prices of rice then was around US$400 per metric ton (MT) which rose to about US$700 to US$800 per MT.
He said it would be up to the different regional wage boards to determine how much of the increase could be implemented depending on several factors including the inflation rates and the ability of each employer to implement a wage increase.
“It is really a tough balancing act. While we want workers have an increase in wage so that they can afford increase in the standard of living, at the same time, we don’t want the employers to lose much. I’m sure a compromise or win-win solution can be found out,” he added.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday ordered the convening of all regional wage boards to discuss wage and non-wage benefits including salary increases to cushion the impact of the rising prices of basic commodities.
Aside from the wage increase, also discussed during the Cabinet meeting were the income tax exemptions for minimum wage earners bill; the condonation of loan penalties; rice subsidies; expansion of income augmentation program to cover workers in the public sector; accessibility and affordable of government housing programs; and the speedy resolution of labor cases.
TUCP spokesman Alex Aguilar, in a briefing after the wage board conference in Malacañang, said for Metro Manila they are seeking P80 per day across-the-board wage increase which is based on the increases in consumer price index, the inflation rate and the amount to be given to workers as share in the regional economic growth.
Aguilar said for other regions, they are still computing how much increase they would ask, assuring that they would file a petition for an across-the-board wage increase in all the 16 regional wage and productivity boards.
He said based on initial computations, they are considering P80 per day across-the-board increase for Regions 11 and 12 and between P125 and P150 for the Caraga and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) regions.
The TUCP hoped that, once the petitions are filed, the regional wage boards would act expeditiously and not stingily.
Sergio Ortiz Jr., president of the Employees Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop), said they are instructing their members to be more sympathetic on the wage discussions as they hope to arrive at an acceptable “compromise” that would satisfy both the employees and the employers.
Donald Dee, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), for his part, said they have their own computations, but declined to reveal it, adding that they would submit it to the wage boards.
Dee and Ortiz added that they do not want to preempt the wage boards which would determine the amount.
According to Senator Francis Escudero, the release of regional wage increase orders should be coupled with the strict implementation of prevailing rates before Labor Day "so the wage erosion caused by rising rice prices which in low-income households account for a third of food expenses can be blunted."
He rejected proposals by some employers to negotiate wage increase through Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).
"That is not the route because only 1.8 million out of the country's 33.7 million labor force are unionized and of union members less than 300,000 of them are covered by CBAs. A wage order will benefit those without the backing of union muscle," he said.
Escudero said enforcing wage orders should go hand-in-hand with the move to raise the minimum daily wage, as he noted the alarming level of non-compliance of salary laws in the private sector.
"What's the use of a wage hike order if it can't be implemented?" Escudero said in citing the equal need to "adopt new wage rates and to apply them later."
The lawmaker said close to 18 percent of the 19,256 firms inspected by Department of Labor and Employment in 2006 were found in violation of the minimum wage law.
In addition, 10 percent and nine percent of the inspected firms either underpaid or did not pay their employees the "cost of living allowance" and 13th month pay, both of which are mandatory. (JMR/CPB/Sunnex)
