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Friday, September 28, 2007
P9 wage hike in Metro Cebu
CEBU CITY -- Minimum-wage workers in Metro Cebu will get an increase of P9 a day, while those in the rest of the province, as well as Bohol, Siquijor, and Oriental Negros, will get P5 a day.
The new wage order will take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. But that may be delayed because the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) wants the increase implemented in January 2008 yet.
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Wage board chairman Elias Cayanong, who is also regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7, refused to give more details of the increase when interviewed by radio dyLA.
It is the fourth straight year that the wage board has approved a minimum wage increase. Since 2004, floor wages in Metro Cebu have risen by P50 a day, while those in the rest of Central Visayas went up by P35.
Last July 16, 2006, the wage board approved a P10 to P18 increase in minimum wage. This pegged the daily pay for Metro Cebu at P241.
The increase of P9 and P5 was the consensus reached during the RTWPB meeting last Tuesday and was finalized during the voting Thursday.
The two labor representatives to RTWPB voted against the P9 and P5 increase, saying these were too small for workers who are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. The labor representatives are Marianito Ventura of Trade Unions of the Philippines and Allied Services (Tupas) and lawyer Jose Boquecosa of the Associated Labor Unions (ALU).
Tupas has petitioned for a P136.80 across-the-board increase, while ALU asked for P75.
The other wage board members voted for the increase. They are Director Marlene Rodriguez of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Asteria Caberte of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and management representatives Charles Streegan and Hidelito Pascual.
Ventura told dyLA that it’s useless to file a motion for reconsideration because they will eventually be outvoted, adding that both DTI and Neda are pro-management.
Robert Go, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Visayas governor, said they will respect the wage board’s decision.
But he added that yearly wage increases have affected job generation because even multinational companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Procter and Gamble, Nestle and Colgate-Palmolive have transferred to other countries.
As a result, the Philippines is now importing consumer products, Go pointed out.
However, ALU spokesperson Joy Lim said the P9 and P5 increases are even less than the P12 increase in Western Visayas, which is composed of Samar and Leyte provinces.
Lim said the “biases” of Dole, DTI and Neda in favor of the capitalists—without considering the high cost of living and the rapid economic growth of Central Visayas—have always placed workers at the losing end. (EOB of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (September 28, 2007 issue)
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