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Saturday, April 23, 2005
No pay hike by Central Visayas wage board
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
MANILA -- Malacañang ordered all wage boards to act on petitions for pay increases on or before May 1, Labor Day, to provide relief for workers.
The bad news for Central Visayas workers is that there are no pending proposals the regional wage board can act on.
Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7 Director Rodolfo Sabulao, who sits as chairman of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board 7, confirmed Friday that they did not receive any petition for wage increase since they issued Wage Order 10, which took effect in August 2004.
The wage board 7, which granted an P8 daily pay hike, increased the daily minimum wage in Central Visayas to P208.
Under existing laws, Sabulao added, the wage board cannot issue another wage order within one year.
"However, there is an exception if there is a supervening event. If the present situation, with the oil price hikes and impending increase in fare rates, can be considered supervening events, the board can order an increase," he added.
Homework
Sabulao said the wage board has been assessing, on its own, the situation of workers during the first quarter of this year.
The board created a technical working group, composed of representatives from different agencies, to conduct a periodic review of the behavior of prices and come up, if possible, with recommendations for a pay adjustment.
But the board makes no promises yet.
Sabulao said it would be "premature" to say if they will issue a wage order since they would have to balance the interests of both labor and employers.
Malacañang appealed to the employers' sector last Thursday to give in to the labor sector's demand for a wage hike, to help them cope with the rising cost of living.
PR tactic?
The Arroyo administration said it was about time labor's demand for a P125 increase in the minimum wage be considered, with the rising prices of basic goods and the impending hike in transport fares.
With this call, Malacañang has ordered the regional wage boards to speed up deliberations on pending wage hike proposals and decide on or before May 1.
However, Kilusang Mayo Uno-Cebu spokesperson Nick Igot said that while they are happy with the government now taking their side, they are wary about President Gloria Mcapagal-Arroyo's agenda.
"Basin pa-pogi lang kay para mosaka iyang nagkaus-us nga popularity rating. Ang survey nag-ingon mas sikat pa si Erap nga presidente kaysa niya (Perhaps she's only out to boost her popularity rating, after a survey showed former president Joseph Estrada is more popular than she is)," Igot said.
He also pointed out that if the administration is sincere in its concern for workers, it should instead lobby for House Bill 345 to gain Congress' approval.
P125 more
Militant party-list congressmen, like representatives of the Partido ng Manggagawa and Anakpawis, are pushing for the passage of the bill, which proposed a P125 daily wage increase for all workers and a P3,000 monthly wage increase for all state workers, by May 1.
Sabulao said that the wage board, together with representatives from Dole, Department of Trade and Industry, National Economic and Development Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Energy, labor and management sectors and even the Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board, will study the need to increase the take-home pay of workers in Region 7.
Aside from looking at the interest of employers, whom Sabulao said will be "hard hit" by a wage increase, they will ensure that there will be no retrenchment, as part of Dole's programs to preserve employment.
Timing
They will also make sure that the government's efforts to attract investors will not be affected.
However, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Robert Go said it will be difficult to keep multinational companies in the country since production cost in other countries, like Thailand and China, is cheaper.
Companies could opt to spend for expansion projects in China, for example, and deprive Filipino workers of jobs.
"If we keep increasing (the pay), we'll have nothing here. That's what's happening already," Go added.
He also expressed worry for small and medium enterprises and cottage industries, which make up 90 percent of the economy, since these businesses are already losing with the entry of cheap imports from China.
"It (a wage increase) has to be studied. The wage board has to make sure that its impact will not result to the loss of jobs," Go suggested.
"We could give a small increase because the economy is also experiencing a downturn. The timing (for an increase) is not right," he added.
(April 23, 2005 issue)
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