NCR wage hike petition hits snag
Minimum wage earners in Metro Manila may have to wait until next month before entertaining the possibility of receiving additional pay after the regional wage board yesterday said it is likely to dismiss the latest wage petition filed by the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).
Johnson Cañete, Department of Labor and Employment - National Capital Region (NCR) director and Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) chairperson, disclosed that the ALU-TUCP’s P184 across-the-board wage petition will most likely be thumbed down due to the prevailing ban for them to issue a new wage order.
He said the one-year ban on issuing a new wage order will end on June 2.
“The earliest (wage petition) that we could entertain is on June 5 since there is no government office on (June) 3 and 4, which is a Saturday and aSunday, respectively. They can file immediately at 8 o’clock on June 5. That is the most logical day,” Cañete said.
He said while the RTWPB-NCR is duty-bound to accept the wage petitions filed by ALU-TUCP , they cannot start deliberating on it until the end of the ban.
Based on the Wage Rationalization Act, RTWPBs could only adjust the prevailing wage rate in their jurisdictions a year after the implementation of their previous wage petition except if there is a “supervening event.”
ALU-TUCP filed their wage petition yesterday, stating the current P491 minimum wage for workers in NCR is no longer enough to pay for their basic needs.
ALU-TUCP National Vice President Eva Arcos said the P184 is the needed amount to restore the depreciated value of the minimum wage in NCR, which is now only at P357.09.
“We used government statistics in computing for the amount in our petition. If they would grant it then God bless them,” Arcos told reporters in ambush interview.
ALU-TUCP’s petition is the second wage petition received by the RTWPBNCR this month.
On May 5, 2017, the Association of Minimum Wage Earners and Advocates (AMWEA-PTGWO) also sought a P140 to P175 wage hike.
The petition was junked on May 12 since it was filed ahead of the end of the one-year ban, and also due to its other irregularities in its details including the amount and the manner of its implementation.