The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Thursday said it would not yield to the P20 wage increase proposed by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines but would continue to insist on a P334 wage increase they petitioned before the Metro Manila wage board.
“The P20 being proffered by ECOP is unacceptable particularly at this point where prices are high and buying power of wage is falling. Such a measly wage increase won’t uplift millions of Metro Manila minimum waged workers now living below poverty,” ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.
“We are not backing down with our P334 wage increase petition because we are not asking for lavish and extravagant wage increase. We are just demanding for a survival wage hike to recover lost real value of our wages so that we can be able to cope with rising inflation and avoid hunger,” Tanjusay said.
“We urge the ECOP to get real. Why don’t they try to take a ride [in] a jeepney or a bus? Go to the market and ride LRT or MRT with their P20,” said Tanjusay.
Meanwhile, the Partido ng Manggagawa said the P20 wage offer by employers was “an insult to hardworking Filipinos.”
READ: P25-wage hike a pittance—Labor
The PM chairman Rene Magtubo said the proposed wage hike would not make a dent in group’s daily cost of living estimate of P1,300.
Magtubo criticized the regional wage board hearings as a “moro-moro” as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello and the ECOP had already agreed on “a P20 alms to workers.”
The regional wage boards are composed of three representatives from the government, two from employers and two from labor.
“Wage regionalization has been weaponized in the employers’ war to cheapen wages and increase profits. An evaluation of the policy performance of wage regionalization that started in 1989 will show that it has consistently resulted in measly salary hikes that are below inflation rates and disregards economic growth,” Magtubo said.
He said the P3,150 monthly are needed to buy daily 2.5 kilos of the cheapest commercial rice at P42.
Of the P39,000 monthly budget, 44 percent is earmarked for food and 56 percent for non-food.
Utilities like electricity, water, and cooking gas make up 8 percent, house rent 15 percent, transportation expenses 11 percent and education needs 13 percent of the total budget.