BY MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City – Citing the declining purchasing power of workers in Western Visayas, a labor alliance is demanding at least a P72 increase in the daily wage of private sector employees.
The General Alliance of Workers’ Associations (GAWA) filed the wage hike petition at the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board.
The increase can improve the lot of workers and their families, said Emmanuel Bandola, chairperson of GAWA which is composed of independent labor unions in Negros Occidental.
November last year, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board approved a P10 to P15 increase in the daily wage but it was barely felt, said Bandola.
GAWA proposed the following daily wage adjustments:
* for workers in non-agricultural / industrial commercial sectors – P372 from the current P287 (for an P85 increase)
* for workers in agricultural / plantation sectors – P330 from the current P255 (for a P75 increase)
* for plantation workers – P317 from the current P245 (for a P72 increase).
The Labor Code requires the minimum wage to be nearly adequate as is economically feasible to maintain the maximum standards of living of the workers and their families, said Bandola.
LAST YEAR’S HIKE
Last year’s P10 wage increase was contained in Wage Order No. 21 Series of 2013. The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board chaired by Labor regional director Ponciano Ligutom Jr. brought to P287 the minimum wage for non-agriculture workers in the region.
Western Visayas workers in non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments with more than 10 workers were paid P287 per day, while those with less than 10 workers received P245 per day.
In agricultural plantations, minimum wage earners were paid P255, while minimum wage earners in non-plantation agricultural enterprises received P245.
The decision to increase the minimum wage was based on the wage board’s assessment of the socio-economic conditions in Region 6 and other factors, such as the number of establishments and workers by industry, effect of the Value-Added Tax on imported raw sugar, and the petition for a P96.35 to P113.57 across-the-board increase in minimum wages filed on May 2, 2013./PN
