THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) is now determining whether there is a supervening event or circumstances that could warrant the petition of Cebu Labor Coalition (Celac) for a P150 across-the-board wage increase.
If the Celac petition will be approved, those receiving the minimum wage of P386 a day in Metro Cebu will get P536 daily. All the workers will have an increase of P150.
Director Johnson Cañete of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7, said that RTWPB 7 conducted a meeting Monday, Nov. 19, and were updated on the economic situation by the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy and the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Cañete, the RTWPB chairman, said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) are scheduled to make representations on Dec. 5.
“All the data presented by the different government agencies will be used in our deliberation on Dec. 18,” Cañete said.
Joe Tomungha, a labor representative at RTWPB, said Celac filed the wage increase petition due to high prices of commodities, lower purchasing power of the peso, and high inflation rate of 3.4 percent last year to 6.7 percent at present.
Tomungha said that because of all the data provided by the National Government agencies by Dec. 18, a new wage order may be approved by the RTWPB early next year. (EOB)