MINIMUM wage earners in Northern Mindanao may likely receive an additional pay as the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) has approved on their level a P27 wage increase for all categories on Monday, October 1.
Nicandro Borja, director for operations of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said the P27 wage increase is still subject for approval by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) in Manila.
Borja, who sits at the RTWPB in the month-long deliberations representing the labor sector, said one of the basis of the P27 wage increase is the inflation rate.
"Mao ra gihapon ang rason ang affordability ug usa sa mga gibasihan is ang inflation rate (The same basis as before, affordability of commodities and inflation rate)," Borja said.
Borja said they even push to raise the P27 increase to P50 during the deliberation but the board did not agreed to it.
"P20 ra gani unta to pero at least nahimong P27. Although duna mi reservation pero nakita namo nga gikinahanglan na gyud sad sa mga workers ang immediate increase (It should have just been P20, but we were able to raise it to P27. Although we have reservations, but we saw the immediate need for an increase)," he added.
Borja said once the NWPC approves the wage increase, the wage order will take effect 15 days after publication on a newspaper of general circulation.
He said the the wage increase may still be insufficient for workers to cope with the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities even as he hope for a higher wage hike next time.
The labor group has filed a petitioned that seeks for a P320 across-the-board wage increase for private sector workers in the region.
"Hinaot sunod madako-dako na ang paghatag sa umento kay dili gyud gihapon kini igo sa kataas sa presyo sa palaliton karong panahona (Hopefully next time, the increase will be significant since the raise is not yet sufficient with the price hike of commodities these days)," Borja said.