ORGANIZED labor has renewed its call on the leadership of the House of Representatives for the swift approval of the proposed P150 wage hike in time for the Labor Day celebration on May 1.
On Tuesday, the Associated Labor Union (ALU) spearheaded the call to fast-track the passage of House Bill (HB) 7871 or the Wage Recovery Act, saying that the P150 legislated wage hike will go a long way in uplifting the lives of workers amid spiraling cost of living.
The Senate has approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 2534 or the P100 Daily Minimum Wage Increase Act of 2023.
“For 35 years since the last wage increase in 1989, labor productivity in the Philippines increased exponentially, while minimum wages stagnated or even declined in some regions,” ALU said in a statement. “Where is the social justice guaranteed by our Constitution, which provides for the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production?”
Also, the group pointed out that while national labor productivity, or the share of the national gross domestic product (GDP) generated annually by each employed person, grew by at least 52 percent over 23 years, the average annual wage earned by minimum-wage workers grew by only 2 percent.
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“Worse, the average annual minimum wage declined by as much as 13 percent in the poorest regions like BARMM. While in the National Capital Region (NCR), the annual minimum wage grew by 13 percent — its regional labor productivity, however, increased at triple the rate of the national average,” the group said, citing a World Bank report.
ALU advocacy officer Mark Villena noted that even in the NCR, wages have not kept pace with labor productivity.
“At current minimum wages, the monthly take-home pay of minimum-wage earners does not even reach their region’s monthly poverty threshold for a family of five. Minimum wage families experience poverty as their household budgets fall short by as much as P3,200 monthly, on average, for essential expenditures including food, fuel, housing, education and health care,” Villena added.
“Adding P100 daily to the minimum wage would not even suffice, as the take-home pay of minimum-wage earners in all regions would still not reach the monthly poverty threshold for their region, with the sole exception of those in Metro Manila. Adding P150 daily barely even makes it, as the take-home pay in at least five regions would still be below their poverty line, even with a P150 wage increase,” he added.
A similar call was also issued by other labor groups that include the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (Nagkaisa), Partido Manggagawa (PM), Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro).
The labor sector is looking forward to a wage hike announcement by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a “workers’ gift” during the upcoming Labor Day celebration as they reminded him of his commitment to the workers.
“Rest assured that this administration is working conscientiously to provide opportunities that will uplift the living and social conditions of our workers and their families,” said Marcos on his first Labor Day as President in 2023.
The TUCP noted that even with the latest wage increases approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages Productivity Boards in 17 regions, wages remain below the poverty threshold set by the Philippine Statistics Authority and no way near the family living wage estimated by the think tank IBON Foundation.
It emphasized that after nearly 35 years without a legislated wage hike, Congress should act now to address worker survival needs to reverse the so-called “cheap labor” policy.
Nagkaisa, the biggest labor coalition in the country, has called on the President to certify as urgent the proposed P150 minimum wage increase for private sector workers.
Big business, however, strongly opposed legislated wage proposals.
The Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said that a legislated wage increase is not only inflationary but would also benefit the greater majority of the workforce as those in the informal sector do not have a fixed wage and are not covered by wage increases.
“The wage increase is only for formal sector workers, which is only 16 percent of the [estimated] 50 million workers. The remaining 84 percent are informal workers such as the fisher folks, tricycle drivers, vendors and jeepney drivers, [among others], who have no employers and regular salaries,” ECOP said.
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