LABOR group Partido Manggagawa (PM) yesterday revived calls for a new round of wage hikes amid the soaring inflation rate in the country that now stands at 8.7 percent.
In a statement, PM Chairman Rene Magtubo said it is now imperative for the salary of workers to be raised to allow them to cope with the rising prices of basic commodities.
“We call for a new round of wage hikes to recover the lost purchasing power of workers, not just in Metro Manila but in the whole country, due to the surge in inflation,” said Magtubo.
He said the wage hike should not just benefit minimum wage earners but all workers and employees.
“This should be for all workers, not just those at the minimum salary level, since all have suffered from wage erosion,” he said, adding the latest surge in prices of basic commodities has shaved the purchasing capacity of workers by P88.
“The P570 minimum wage in NCR is actually just worth P482 by December 2022. About P88 has been shaved off the real value of the minimum wage. The runaway inflation resulted to workers’ real wages being pushed back even further,” Magtubo said.
