Friday, August 08, 2008 Labor dep't: No petitions for wage hike in CL By Ian Ocampo Flora
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Despite growing clamor for a wage increase, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said it has yet to receive any formal petition for a pay adjustment in Central Luzon.
The call for a new salary increase came after the record high inflation rate of 12.2 percent in Metro Manila and 13.9 percent outside the National Capital Region.
In Pampanga, the Workers Alliance of Region (WAR) 3 was the first to call for a wage increase, stating that workers and employees could no longer make ends meet with their meager salaries and wages. The group asked for the passage of the legislated P125 across-the-board wage increase.
For his part, Dole Regional director Nathaniel Lacambra said mere inflation rate could not be the sole consideration for the wage increase.
Lacambra said consumer price index, capacity to pay of consumers and spiraling effect of a salary increase are to be looked into if a petition presented to the Dole.
"An increase in salary of workers may also result in an increase of the prices of commodities since capitalist would just pass the burden of a salary increase to consumers. But, so far, there is no petition yet for a wage increase," he said.
He said a 10 percent increase may also bring in a 15 percent increase in market prices.
The Dole regional office is urging companies to strengthen non-wage benefits, including transportation and medical benefits.
Lacambra said they are also coordinating with the National Food Authority (NFA) for bringing in rice stalls inside export, industrial and special economic zones in the region.
The P125 wage increase has been a 10-year crusade by militant labor groups in the country.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) has announced that country's inflation rate last month was 12.2 percent, the highest in 17 years.
The NSO stated in its report that "in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR), annual inflation further accelerated to 13.9 percent in July from 12.3 percent in June as all the commodity groups continued to record higher annual inflation rates."
Angie Ladera of WAR-3 said the inflation rate further reduces the purchasing power of ordinary Filipinos, especially workers in Pampanga and other parts of Central Luzon, because of the disparity in the prices of commodities and the salaries of ordinary workers. The inflation rate is the basic parameter for measuring how fast prices of commodities and basic goods rise within a given time.
