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Saturday, May 28, 2005
Luzon wage boards okay P20 pay hike
MANILA -- Wage boards in Central Luzon and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) approved Friday a P20 increase in the cost of living allowance (Cola) for workers in their respective areas.
Ciriaco Lagunzad III, executive director of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), said the increase will take effect on June 15.
Since the allowance is added to the basic wage, this will increase the pay of laborers in the non-agricultural sector in Bulacan Province from P243.50 to P263.50 and in Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga and Zambales from P239.50 to P259.50.
Workers in Aurora province will enjoy a new pay rate of P217. They currently get P197 as their total minimum wage.
The last time the wage board in Region 3 or Central Luzon granted a living allowance increase for workers in the area was on August 2, 2004.
In the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), the wages of laborers in the non-agricultural sector in Baguio City, La Trinidad, Tuba, Itogon and Sablan will increase from P205 to P225 because of the additional allowance while workers in Mt. Province, Abra and other municipalities of Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao will receive P219 per day, a P20 increase from the P199 they currently get as wage.
Lagunzad said the two wage boards acted on petitions for a wage increase, citing supervening conditions or economic indicators that have eroded the purchasing power of minimum wage earners in the two regions.
Household or domestic helpers, family drivers as well as workers in barangay micro-business enterprises are not covered by the new wage orders.
The wage boards also exempted private schools or educational institutions in the two regions from coverage of the new wage order provided they did not increase their tuition for the coming school year.
Retail establishments employing not more than 10 workers and garments and distressed establishments are exempted from coverage of the wage orders also.
Lagunzad said employers, establishments, businesses and institutions concerned should still file petitions for exemptions even if the wage order states that they are excused from implementing the increase in the cost of living allowance.
The regional wage bodies also encouraged commercial establishments to adopt productivity improvement schemes to sustain the "rising levels of wages and enhance competitiveness". (MSN)
(May 28, 2005 issue)
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