Gatchalian seeks win-win solution to wage hike

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SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said lawmakers should put a “balance” on the proposed legislative minimum daily wage increase to ensure a win-win situation for both employers and employees.

Gatchalian issued the statement after the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading last week its version of the proposed legislative wage hike of P200 a day, P100 more than the approved Senate version of the measure.

In an interview with radio dzBB, Gatchalian said coming up with an amount on the legislative wage hike is “really hard” since they have to consider many factors that may affect both employers and workers.

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“Importante na balansehin dahil kapag tinaasan ng sobrang taas, ‘yung mga negosyo, lalo na ‘yung mga maliliit, sila naman ang maapektuhan, baka magsara sila at mawalan tayo ng trabaho. Kapag sobrang baba naman, hindi naman angkop sa pagtaas ng presyo o ‘yung inflation (It is very important that there is balance because when a very high increase may affect businesses, especially the small ones, that may lead to their closure, which will result to job losses. On the other hand, if the increase is small, it will not be enough to cope with inflation),” Gatchalian said.

“Dahil ito ay isang dahilan kung bakit tinataas ‘yung minimum wage ay dahil nga sa inflation ay tumataas rin o ‘yung pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin ay tumataas. So, binabalanse ‘yan nang maigi (Inflation is one of the factors why are eyeing a legislated wage increase, so we are trying to balance it),” he added.

He said the regional wage boards are tasked to decide on wage increases, but they are, apparently, at times, “too slow” to act.

He said in an “ideal setting,” wage boards should be “flexible and responsive” and must be sensitive to the needs of workers to cope with inflation. He pointed out that there were times when prices of commodities soared before they implemented a wage increase.

“In other words, tumaas na ‘yung presyo ng mga bilihin, hindi pa sila nag-a-adjust. So, kaya sumang-ayon ang Senado, kasama na ako doon na maglabas ng legislated wage hike na P100 dahil nga sa pag-aaral namin, ang tagala eh, 5 years bago sila nagtaas

(In other words, the prices of goods have increased, but the wage boards have not made the necessary adjustments. That’s the reason why the Senate came up with a legislated wage hike of P100 a day because based on our study, the last time we had a wage increase was five years ago),” he said.

“Ang rekamo kasi ay laging ang tagal-tagal kumilos ng wage boards, at ang liit pa kapag nag-approve…wala pang P50 ang idinadagdag. Usually, P15, P20 na talagang parang binigyan mo lang ng pandagdag sa pamasahe, hindi talaga siya sapat, kulang na kulang (The complaints we receive is that the wage boards are too slow to act, and if they do, the increase is very small, it does not even reach P50 a day, usually it is at P15 to P20 a day increase. It’s like we just give our workers additional amount for their daily fares. The amount is not enough),” he said.

Gatchalian said it’s about time the Senate exercised its oversight function and reviewed the mandate of wage boards.

He said the final amount to be approved will be determined when the bicameral conference committee is convened.

Gatchalian said the proposed measure can still be passed before the 19th Congress goes on a sine die adjournment in June, especially if the proposed measure is given priority and certified as urgent by the President.

The Senate approved the proposed measure in February last year, while the House approved it last week.

The last legislated wage increase was implemented in 1989 with a P89-a-day hike after the enactment of RA 6727 or the Wage Rationalization Act.

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