Workers seek P154 wage hike

Workers in Metro Manila are seeking a P154 across-the-board increase in their daily take home pay to help them cope with the rising prices of basic commodities.

Alan Tanjusay, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman, said they are filing a formal petition for wage increase before the Regional Tri- partite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) today.

Tanjusay said all workers and not only minimum wage earners are in dire need of wage increase considering the exorbitant increase in prices of essential commodities.

“The current wage level in Metro Manila

fell by 24 percent since January as a result of the rising cost of living in the region so based on our computation every worker needs an increase of P154 in their daily pay,” Tanjusay explained.

He said that it was the biggest wage erosion ever recorded, thus TUCP is also seeking a higher salary hike this year.

“Besides if the government is claiming that the economy is improving, the salaries of workers must also increase,” he added.

Last year, TUCP filed a formal petition seeking a P136 across-the-board increase in the daily wage of workers in Metro Manila, but the RTWPB in the region only granted P15 wage hike for minimum wage earners.

Labor officials maintained that the wage hike last year benefitted 587,000 minimum wage earners, who have remained exempted from paying income tax.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the wage order granting P15 pay hike already reached its first anniversary, prompting the board to start reviewing the prevailing economic condition in the region.

Baldoz earlier said that the RTWPB is ready to accept formal petitions for salary hike once the one-year prohibition from filing successive wage petition ended.