AMID the clamor for a legislated wage hike, a coalition of labor groups has called on the House of Representatives (HOR) to pass laws pushing for higher wages.
“If the HOR can create a mountain out of a molehill, like what it did for a more complicated process of revising the Constitution, then they can do the same for the wage hike bills and in correcting the defective wage setting mechanism in the country,” Nagkaisa, a coalition of labor centers, federations, and national unions in the Philippines said on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.
Nagkaisa said the P150 wage hike for daily minimum earners, passed on second reading by the Senate on Wednesday, Feb. 14 was far from what was needed by the labor sector to alleviate them from poverty.
“Still, we welcome it as a form of relief, and a good start as well to correcting the problems created by the regional wage setting mechanism,” the labor coalition said.
There are two pending bills in the lower house seeking to increase the salary of private sector workers: House Bill 7871, or the proposed Wage Recovery Act of 2023 and House Bill 7568.
HB 7871 filed by Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza pushed for the P150 per day wage hike, while HB 7568 sought to increase the minimum daily wage to P750.
HB 7568 was filed by members of the Makabayan bloc, which is composed of Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel.
According to the labor coalition, a new bill was filed on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, seeking to increase to P50,000, the salary base of teachers.
It added that both the House and Senate should initiate reforming the wage-setting mechanism through legislation instead of wasting their time on Charter change.
Meanwhile, business groups expressed, in a joint statement on Thursday, their strong opposition against the P150 wage hike in the Senate.
They asked Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to urge policymakers to adopt comprehensive measures to address economic inequalities instead of solely opting for wage hikes.
This includes investing in education, skills development, infrastructure, and an environment that allows businesses to grow leading to job generation.