THE Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) approved on Friday P10-increase in the salary of minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.
“(The board) unanimously made a decision to increase the minimum wage by P10.00 per day to bring the minimum wage to P466 in the National Capital Region upon the effectivity of the new wage hike,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, quoting RTWPB-NCR Wage Order No. 18.
Aside from the P10 additional pay, the NCR board also decided to integrate P15 of the existing P30 cost of living allowance (COLA) into the basic wage effective January 1, 2014.
Department of Labor and Employment (Dole)-NCR Regional Director Alex Avila said the new minimum wage shall apply to all minimum wage workers in the private sector in the region regardless of their position, designation, or status of employment, and irrespective of the method by which they are paid.
However, excluded are household service or domestic helpers; persons in the personal service of another, including family drivers; and workers of duly-registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) with Certificates of Authority.
Baldoz said the new wage order shall take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
The wage order is the resolution of the two wage hike petitions filed before the NCR wage board with both coming from the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), one from the group of Democrito Mendoza and the other from the faction of former senator Ernesto Herrera.
Last June 5, Mendoza’s TUCP re-filed its petition for an additional P85 for laborers in the NCR.
On June 7, Herrera’s group sought to raise the daily minimum wage by P83 in Metro Manila.
The TUCP (Mendoza wing) assailed the wage order, saying they are set to appeal the decision of the NCR wage board.
In a text message, TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said the decision was “outrageous” as this cannot even buy a half kilo of rice or suffice the daily transportation expenses of workers.
“Workers will strongly reject this amount. They need a wage increase and this amount is a joke. A painful joke to the working class, who worked hard to improve the economy,” said Tanjusay.
The NCR wage board earlier issued a two-tranche wage order providing workers of additional P20 and P10 in June and in November 2012, respectively. (HDT/Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)