ILOILO City — Pressure is mounting on the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas.
Another labor organization filed a petition seeking a P250 increase in the daily minimum wage, making it the fourth wage hike appeal lodged in the region this year amid the continuing rise in fuel prices and the cost of basic commodities.
The Iloilo Pepsi Cola Workers Independent Union (IPCWIU) formally submitted its petition to the RTWPB office in Jaro district on July 24, calling for the regional minimum wage for private sector workers to be raised from P550 to P800 per day.
The union said the petition reflects its solidarity with private-sector workers across Western Visayas who continue to struggle with the economic burden brought about by escalating petroleum prices and the resulting increase in the prices of goods and services.
According to IPCWIU president Joseph Tumalay, the existing minimum wage is no longer sufficient to provide workers and their families with a decent standard of living.
“The current minimum wage of P550 is no longer enough because it cannot keep up with the rising prices of goods and services,” Tumalay said.
Based on the union’s petition, the real value of the present minimum wage has already declined to only P407, underscoring the erosion of workers’ purchasing power.
IPCWIU Vice President Serapio Savillo also criticized the government’s poverty benchmark, describing as an insult the claim that a family earning P13,900 a month, or P93 a day per person, should no longer be considered poor.
Savillo urged the government to address what he described as a crisis triggered by soaring oil prices instead of favoring large oil companies that continue to earn substantial profits while poor Filipinos bear the brunt of rising living costs.
The labor group also called on workers and unions to unite in supporting the campaign for higher wages and respect for workers’ human rights.
IPCWIU likewise reiterated its call for the adoption of a national wage rate and the abolition of the regionalized wage system, arguing that the country’s wage and employment crisis affects workers nationwide.
The IPCWIU is the fourth labor group to file a wage hike petition before RTWPB-6 this year.
Earlier petitions were filed by the United Labor Western Visayas (ULWV) Alliance on April 30, the Iloilo Doctors Hospital Employees Union (IDHEU) on June 5, and the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) on June 26. All sought to raise the regional minimum wage to P800 a day, with some petitions also calling for the grant of a cost-of-living allowance (COLA)./PN
