After extensive petitioning by labor unions, the regional wage board (Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board – National Capital Region) decided on Sept. 14 to increase the minimum wage in Metro Manila by P21. This will affect more than six million workers across 17 cities and municipalities. From P491, the minimum wage will go up to a total of P512 starting October.
This is a milestone, considering that the last major hike took place under President Cory Aquino, with minimum wage nationwide increasing by P25.
However, it is significantly lower than what the three labor unions were asking for: specifically, a total of P675 requested by Associated Labor Unions (ALU), P750 by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), and P1200 in four tranches by the Association of Minimum Wage Earners (AWE).
According to Alan Tanjusay, the spokesperson of ALU-TUCP, a P21 increase (4.27%) isn’t enough: “The P21 increase in daily wage remains insufficient for families to cope with rising prices of goods and increasing cost of goods.”
The purchasing power of the original P491 is lower than it seems, after all: just P354.51 as computed last July. An ALU petition says, “The increases, small as they were, have been overtaken by the increases in power and water rates, in health and education costs, the prices of oil and its products, LPG, and of basic goods and services.”
Tanjusay also pointed out before that living on less than P360 (the actual value of the original P491) per day is hardly enough if one is in charge of a family of five. Such a wage would lead to nutritional deficiencies and less productivity among workers. Raffy Mapali from TUCP added, “The wage increase isn’t just about restoring purchasing power. It should be about raising living standards too.”
Labor groups are likely to continue further petitions, such as a P500 subsidy from the government to be given to minimum wage earners.
The post NCR Wage Board Approves P21 Minimum Wage Increase appeared first on Sprout.
source https://sprout.ph/blog/ncr-wage-board-approves-p21-minimum-wage-increase/
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