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Friday, May 02, 2008
Workers pay hike known in 2 weeks
PRIVATE sector workers will still be haggling with employers for wage increase in the next weeks while government employees need not to bargain as President Arroyo signed Wednesday the order granting the 10 percent increase starting July 1.
The 10-percent wage hike is part of the wage adjustment process that started as early as 2006. It will cover public school teachers, policemen, soldiers and the coast guard, among others.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Workers from the private sector, on the other hand, will have to wait two more weeks for the RTWPBs to decide the increase to be given to the workers.
Arroyo earlier ordered the regional wage boards to work overtime to come up with possible wage increases to help cushion the impact of the rising prices of oil and rice.
RTWPBs will hold a public hearing on May 13 to enable them to come up with the decision on how much additional pay would be given to workers.
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Labor will have to wait
Labor groups in Central Luzon and Metro Manila are seeking an across-the-board wage increase of P60 and P80, respectively. The minimum wage in Central Luzon is P201 to P287 following a P9 increase that took effect Sept. 27, 2007. The minimum wage in the NCR ranges from P325 to P362 following a P12 increase effective Aug. 28, 2007.
The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) in Central Visayas have both submitted petitions for a P150 increase in the minimum daily wage.
The current minimum daily wage in Central Visayas is P250. This was set in the last wage order issued on Nov. 11 last year.
Like the rest of the country, workers in Northern Mindanao would have to wait for two more weeks to determine the amount in their wage adjustments.
Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) Northern Mindanao Director Alan Macaraya said the RTWPB might grant an increase not on the daily wages but as "temporary emergency allowance." He however, declined to say how much " temporary emergency allowance" will be given to the workers.
Macaraya said "temporary emergency allowance" is subject for automatic review six months from its issuance or roughly in September this year.
Ciriaco Lagunzad III, executive director of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) said that while it is true that the wage increase previously granted are lower than the amount being asked in the petition, he hopes it would not be lower than P30 for this case.
He noted that the highest salary increase granted to workers in the NCR was P30 in 2006 and that wass because of the expanded value-added tax (VAT) and the Gulf war.
Lagunzad also said he expects key regions like the NCR, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and Central Visayas would issue wage order this month while the rest would be early next month or before the end of June.
"We are hopeful that before the end of June all wage boards have issued the (wage) order," he said. The NCR wage board in 2007 granted P12 wage increase bringing to P362 the current wage rate in Metro Manila.
He explained that giving any amount while there are no deliberations yet would be speculative since there are factors that need to be considered like the capability of the employers to give the increase and the need of the workers.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) filed an P80 across-the-board wage increase last month.
Alex Aguilar, spokesman for the TUCP, said they are expecting that the wage board would grant a higher adjustment this time.
"We're expecting it should be higher considering there is the declaration of the supervening condition and everything is rising. If the regional wage boards will give lower than last year, I think their up for abolition," Aguilar said.
He also warned the NCR wage board to be "careful" in its decision and stop favoring the employers.
Citing the inflation rate, Aguilar said if this would be factored in the computation, the increase that should be granted to workers is P46.
Peaceful rally
On the other hand, different workers' groups celebrated international Labor Day in Manila and other key cities in the country with no untoward incident reported.
National Police Chief Avelino Razon Jr. directed all regional directors to continue implementing their respective security and public safety plans even after the Labor Day activities were concluded.
Razon said there were no significant reports of violence or confrontation involving workers groups that staged mass action and public assemblies in Manila, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Baguio City, Calamba City, Legaspi City, and Cavite.
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Razon congratulated all police regional directors for making the early preparations that resulted in the successful implementation of the security operations for Labor Day.
Non-wage benefits
Meanwhile, workers that attended the Labor Day celebration organized by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) were not happy with the non-wage benefits announced by Vice President Noli de Castro.
The non-wage benefits include the condonation of loan penalties for Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig) and the putting up of daycare centers in the work place, among others.
De Castro said the government is doing all it can to finally end the workers suffering by asking Congress to pass the tax exemptions bill before they end their session.
He said the President has also directed the National Labor Relations Commissions (NLRC) to fasttrack the resolution of the cases pending with the agency as well as the rehabilitation of the irrigation system to address the rice shortage.
During the event, the labor department through the help of Pag-Ibig raffled two condominium units and other minor prizes. (Pooled report from Sun.Star Network of Publications)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (May 2, 2008 issue)
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