THE labor sector in Negros Occidental is pressing the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) Western Visayas to come out with a new wage order.
Wennie Sancho, labor sector representative to the RTWPB- Western Visayas, said the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) mandates that the RTWPB shall come out with a new wage order following the end of the previous wage order that will end on March 29.
During the consultation held in Aklan, Sancho said the management sector used the recent fare rate decrease as the basis for their refusal to grant the wage increase.
Wage rates in Western Visayas at present range from P245 to P255 per day for non-agricultural workers and for P255 per day for agricultural workers.
Sancho said despite the series of significant rollbacks in the prices of fuels, prices of goods remain high at this time so there's really a need for a wage increase.
The RTWPB in Western Visayas has an ongoing a consultation on the proposed P80 increase in daily minimum wage. The petition was filed by the Ceneco Union of Rational Employees (Cure) and the General Alliance of Workers Associations (Gawa) along with other labor organizations in Negros Occidental.
Labor Regional Director Ponciano Ligutom, chairman of the RTWPB-Western Visayas, had earlier said the public hearing on the wage petition will be held on February 20, 2015 and they may decide on it by May 1, 2015.
"The proposal is going to be presented and we will submit to the board and listen to the board representatives to know the pulse from both the labor and management sector. On the basis of our consultation here in Negros and Panay, we would be able to decide whether to grant it or not," said Regional Director Ro-Ann Bacal of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Western Visayas.