ECOP Seeks Dismissal of TUCP Wage Hike Petitions
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) urged the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board- National Capital Region (RTWPB- NCR) to dismiss the two (2) wage hike petitions filed by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) under the leadership of former Senator Ernesto Herrera and Democrito Mendoza.
In a position paper submitted to the RTWPB-NCR, ECOP President Edgardo G. Lacson said the wage board should dismiss the two petitions for “lack of jurisdiction” and declare that “a wage increase at this point in time is unnecessary.”
Lacson argued that the TUCP-Herrera petition for an P83 adjustment and TUCP-Mendoza petition for an P85 hike, both seeking an across-the-board adjustment for all employees in NCR, “do not fall within the jurisdiction of the (Wage) Board which is limited to granting of wage increases of employees earning the statutory minimum wage rates.” The wage is not empowered to grant increases to employees earning more than the minimum wage rate, he added.
Lacson bewailed that both wage hike petitions should not have been entertained and thus, should have been dismissed outright. But he noted that instead of dismissing the petition, the wage board used them as basis for setting into motion the wage determination process through 2 public consultations and a public hearing which would inevitably culminate in the issuance of a wage order.
At the same time, Lacson maintained that both wage hike petitions “have no factual and legal basis while the computations are flawed.” Thus, “they deserve no consideration at all, even as reference,” he argued.
In light of the foregoing, Lacson suggested that the NCR wage board conduct its own independent study based on the criteria prescribed under Art. 124 of the Labor Code on Standards/Criteria for Minimum Wage Fixing and implemented by the Two-Tiered Wage System prescribed by National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) Resolution No. 02, Series of 2010, which institutes the Two-Tiered Wage System.
Moreover, Lacson said a wage adjustment at this time is “unnecessary,” pointing out that Wage Order No. NCR-17 which increased the minimum wage rate in non-agriculture from P426 to P456 (P30 COLA = integration of P22 COLA) took effect on June 3, 2012. As of June 2012, the annual inflation rate in the NCR declined to 1.6%.
The erosion of minimum wage caused by inflation is the most important determinative factor that is first considered by the wage board in adjusting wages not only because of its impact on the cost of living but also because it is immediately quantifiable based on timely data. In addition, it is tied up with related factors as needs of workers and their families and improvements in the standard of living which can be subject to measurement.
Based on computations by ECOP, the erosion rate of the minimum wage rate of P426 covering the period June 2012 to June 2013 was only 1.69% or in peso terms, equivalent to P7.72.
Taking into account the erosion rate from June 2011 to June 2012 when Wage Order No. NCR-17 became effective, the erosion rate within said period was only 2.22% or in peso terms, equivalent to P9.47. Thus, the total amount of erosion of minimum wages for 2 years from June 2011 to June 2013 stood only at P17.19. This amount is about half the wage increase (P30 COLA + integration of P22 COLA) granted last year, Lacson pointed out.