More than half of the 17 regional wage boards nationwide have difficulty reading incoming President Rodrigo Duterte’s “body language” as to the amount of across-the-board wage increase that they should grant workers—petitions for which were filed last month by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).
TUCP has received information that all wage boards nationwide are waiting for Duterte to signal his take on wage increases before they decide.
TUCP calls on the wage boards to render decision according to their time-bound and independent mandate. The board should adjust the wages immediately because the workers’ current salary rate cannot cope with the rising cost of living. The Filipino workforce is getting hungry with the current measly salaries they are getting. If the board wants to call Duterte’s attention to the matter, well, they should do it immediately.
Last month, TUCP president Raymond Mendoza filed several petitions for wage increase: P154 for workers in Metro Manila, P146 in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), P161 in Region 7, P168 in Region 10, P163 in Region 11, and P143 in Region 12.
Regional wage boards are composed of two representatives each from the workers and employers sectors, and three from the executive department of the government.
The government’s poverty threshold standard is P417 for a family of five to be fed for one day. However, the real value of the highest minimum wage is P317 only.
—Alan A. Tanjusay
TUCP’s spokesperson