Labor group reiterates call for P100 wage hike
Labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) has reiterated its call for a P100 wage hike, in reaction to the three-year high inflation of 4.9 percent on April 2022.
Dennis Derige, PM-Cebu spokesperson, said that the P100 is wage recovery, not a real increase in salaries.
He said that from 2018 to the present, real wages have declined by a significant amount of 8 percent as the rising inflation rate further erodes real wages.
Derige cited data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission that as of February 2022, the P404 minimum wage in Metro Cebu is worth only P371 based on inflation since 2018.
The wage hike was among the demands raised by PM and other worker groups in the nationwide Labor Day activities a few days ago. PM is asking that an emergency session of Congress tackle a legislated wage hike.
“The regional wage boards are useless. Instead workers want Congress to pass a law mandating a P100 across-theboard wage increase, even for those receiving salaries above the minimum wage since everyone has been affected by inflation,” said Derige, in a statement.
Derige, however, said that P100 is really not enough to raise minimum wages to the level of the cost of living.
Thus, he said, a holistic approach necessitates a cash aid, price discounts and a jobs program in response to the spike in food prices.
“Families of the unemployed and informal workers should be given a cash assistance of P10,000 a month. In the longterm, support for farmers must be accelerated, food sovereignty must be promoted and land conversion must be stopped. Local programs that connect farmers to consumers and workers’ communities must be encouraged,” Derige added.
The group is also supporting the labor coalition Nagkaisa’s call for an emergency jobs creation program called unemployment support and work assistance guarantee or USWAG.
It can be recalled that PM and other labor groups coalesced under the Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni signed a covenant the tandem of Vice President Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan that calls for approximating the living wage and abolishing the system provincial wages.
Derige explained that Region 7 workers last got a minimum wage increase on January 5, 2020, two years ago.