SEVERAL labor groups want the minimum wage rate of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) doubled to enable their families to meet the living wage requirement of P1,140.
In its wage hike petition filed yesterday, the groups under the banner of Unity for Wage Increase Now! (U4WIN) asked the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) – NCR to double the minimum wage in Metro Manila from the current P570.
“There is an urgent and compelling ground for the review of the last wage order and petitioners’ (call) for the implementation of the living wage enumerated in this petition of P1,140,” said U4WIN.
“Wherefore, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed by the herein petitioners that the much-needed living wage in the region of P1,140 be implemented as the new minimum wage,” it added.
The labor groups said a wage increase is necessary for them to cope with the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.
“The petition was made so that the workers/employees in the region can eventually enjoy to live in their appropriate living wage and to enjoy the fruit of their labor as embodied in the Philippine Constitution,” said U4WIN.
The labor groups also stressed that a new wage hike is imperative considering that there were no wage orders issued between November 2019 and June 2022.
“Notedly, the NCR wage board did not issue a wage order in the region for more than two years,” said U4WIN.
The wage hike petition was signed and supported by 25 national and local trade unions and workers’ organizations in the National Capital Region.
Back in December 2022, the Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa (Kapatiran) also filed a P100 wage hike petition.
In a phone interview, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said there is nothing wrong if multiple wage petitions will be filed.
