Workers slam ‘heartless disregard’ for decent pay
AMID the labor sector’s persistent call for a P150 legislated wage hike, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB)-National Capital Region (NCR) has approved a P35 increase in the daily minimum wage rate of private sector workers in Metro Manila.
The RTWPB-NCR said the new wage order will take effect on July 17, 2024.
“Upon effectivity of this Wage Order, minimum wage earners in the private sector in the Region shall receive the amount of P35.00 increase in the basic wage per day,” the NCR Wage Board said.
In its Wage Order No. NCR-25, the RTWPB-NCR said it has approved a wage adjustment from P610 to P645 for the non-agriculture sector and okayed an increase from P573 to P608 for the agriculture sector, service and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers and manufacturing establishments regularly employing less than 10 workers.
The National Wage Coalition (NWC) described the P35 minimum wage hike as a “heartless disregard” for the workers’ need for a decent living wage.
In a statement, the NWC slammed the NCR wage board for disregarding the needs of workers amid the inflation and soaring prices of basic commodities and services.
“After several legislative proposals for an across-the-board wage increase, numerous actions held on the streets, and hearings with the labor sector – all with the intent to call and demand for a fair wage increase to adjust for inflation and the ever-changing value of our salaries – the RTWPB’s increase is nothing short of a heartless disregard for the economic crises faced by our workers and families,” said the NWC.
“We have presented our arguments based on factual and credible research. And yet our efforts amount to a low increase. The P35 increase does not even amount to measly change,” it added.
“It is exactly a day after the anniversary of the preceding wage order,” said the NCR Wage Board.
The last wage order for private establishments in the NCR was issued on June 26, 2023, and became effective on July 16, 2023.
According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), close to a million Metro Manila workers stand to benefit from the wage order.
“The wage order is expected to directly benefit around 988,243 minimum wage earners in the NCR,” said the NWPC.
Additionally, about 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from the correction of wage distortion, added the NWPC.
According to the RTWPB-NCR, the amount of the wage increase is based on the various wage determination criteria, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI) between May 2023 to May 2024.
“Based on the abovementioned CPI figures in the Region, the average inflation rate from May 2023 up to May 2024 is 4.42%,” it said.
It also noted that the poverty threshold based on the latest available data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2021 is in the amount of P452.
“The prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the region remains above the latest regional poverty threshold for a family of five,” said the RTWPB-NCR.
It is, however, lower than the petitions filed by different labor groups ranging from P597 to P750.
The amount is also lower than the P150 wage hike sought by labor groups in the House of Representatives.
Before the issuance of a wage order, the NCR wage board held two separate consultations for workers and employers on May 23, 2024 and June 04, 2024.
A public hearing was also held last June 20, 2024 in Quezon City as well as a wage deliberation by the wage board on June 27, 2024 in Manila City.
The NWPC said retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers and enterprises affected by natural calamities and/or human-induced disasters may apply to the RTWPB-NCR for exemption from the wage increase.
Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) are not covered by the minimum wage law.
Labor groups said the latest wage order only proves what they have been claiming for a long — “the deliberate demonstration of the Board’s lack of empathy towards the economic needs of the working class.”
The coalition called on lawmakers to come to the rescue of workers, saying they should immediately pass the proposed P150 legislated wage hike.
“The House of Representatives’ Committee on Labor must pass our proposed bills for an across-the-board increase of at least P150,” said the NWC.
The NWC also reiterated its appeal to abolish the regional wage board mechanism for wage setting.
“The RTWPBs refuse to meet our demands, thus, their existence must be challenged, questioned, and ultimately discontinued,” said the NWC.
