ILOILO City – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) may come out with a decision on the wage increase petition for Western Visayas workers this June.
The Board received a total of nine position papers from various stakeholders – labor and business groups – submitted during public hearings conducted in this city (May 8), Aklan (April 24), Capiz (April 26), and Bacolod City (May 10).
According to RTWPB secretary Atty. Ma. Ailyne Valaquio, the Board targets to come out with a decision “hopefully by June.”
The RTWPB is made up of the Department of Labor and Employment, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Trade and Industry, and two representatives from the labor sector.
In coming up with a decision, Valaquio the Board would be guided by the following: regional economic indicators, sentiments of labor groups and positions of employers.
From the four public hearings, Valaquio said, it was evident that employers were against what the wage hike petitioners were asking.
“The general sentiment from the management side is daw kataas gid kuno sang ginapangayo sang labor groups, nga basi indi nila makayananan,” said Valaquio.
The wage hike petition was filed by the Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (PACIWU-TUCP) based in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
It sought the following increases in the daily wage:
* P150 for workers in businesses with over 10 workers
* P140 for workers in agricultural plantations over 24 hectares
* P130 for workers in establishments with less than 10 workers
*P130 for workers in agriculture, non-plantation, 24 hectares and below.
In Wage Order No. 23 approved in Feb. 16 last year, the RTWPB increased the daily minimum wage of private sector workers in Western Visayas and Negros Occidental.
The following wages took effect beginning March 16, 2017:
* P323.50 (from the previous P298.50) in the non-agriculture / industrial / commercial sector employing more than 10 workers – or a P25 increase
* P271.50 (from the previous P256.50) in the non-agriculture / industrial / commercial sector employing 10 workers or less – or a P15 increase
* P281.50 (from the previous P266.50) in the agriculture sector with plantation – or a P15 increase
* P271.50 (from the previous P256.50) in the agriculture sector but non-plantation – or a P15 increase./PN
