Board checks need for wage increase
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Central Visayas (RTWPB-7) is needing more data to establish the presence of supervening conditions that would warrant the P145.10 per day wage hike filed by four labor organizations.
Cyril Ticao, RTWPB-7 chairman, said the petitioners and the Philippines Statistics Authority-7 have presented various data during their meeting yesterday.
The Department of Energy-7, on the other hand, will present its data on the oil prices on Monday.
"We will declare first that there are supervening conditions based on the data presented before we will entertain the petition," Ticao said.
These supervening conditions include the unstable oil prices, the increase in the prices of basic commodities, the reduction of the purchasing power of the peso, and the impending hike in the transportation fare, among others.
RTWPB needs to declare a supervening condition first before it can take actions on the pending petitions for wage increase because of the one year period prohibition.
Wage boards are prohibited to issue wage order within one year from its last wage order unless there is a supervening condition.
A P13 daily wage hike was just implemented last March 10 as contained in Wage Order No. 20. The minimum wage for the region is now P366.
The P145.10 wage hike petition was filed by the Cebu Labor Coalition, Lonbisco Employees Organization, Metaphil Workers Union and Unionbank Employees Association for another round of wage increase. APL is a member of the Cebu Labor Coalition.
The increase is intended for all the workers in the non-agricultural and agri-cultural sectors all over Central Visayas.
In their eight-page petition, the petitioners said that since then, there have been supervening conditions “that warrant and justify a review of the wage structure and the issuance of a new wage order.”
Metudio Belarmino, spokesperson of CLC, earlier said the presence of supervening conditions is very clear, based on their computation.
“The workers will face higher prices of goods and services once the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion will be implemented. Real wages falling, higher taxes imminent,” part of the petition read.
The petition added it is time for Region 7's wage board to evaluate its “failure” to provide substantial and significant wage increase for workers.
Earlier, Glenn Soco, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the country is considered one of the most expensive places to do business in Asia.
He called on businesses to remain competitive to achieve their growth targets, which will eventually redound to better wages, income, and opportunities for the people.