An increase in the minimum wage of workers is necessary, considering the failure of Congress to approve the P200 legislated wage hike, Wennie Sancho, secretary general of the General Alliance of Workers Assn,(GAWA), said in a statement.
With the unprecedented increase in the prices of petroleum products, prices of basic necessities, goods and services have skyrocketed. The workers and their families have been struggling to budget their salaries to keep them going, he said.
“As an oil importing country, we are affected by the rising global oil crisis. Analysts warn that the Iran-Israel conflict may impact remittances from Middle East based overseas Filipino workers,” Sancho added.
The Department of Labor (DOLE) and the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NEPC) are working together to address wage issues of the workers in the private sector. The Regional Wage Board in Western Visayas should move with urgency to alleviate the financial strain due to the high cost of living brought about by the extraordinary increases in the prices of petroleum products. The best that the Wage Board could do is to issue a wage order in the form of an Emergency Relief Allowance (ERA) to shield the purchasing power of the workers from further deterioration, his statement said.
Sancho said the extraordinary increases in the prices of petroleum products and basic goods and services constitute “supervening conditions” that would justify the issuance of the wage order even without a petition from Labor or within the one-year bar period. But they have to move fast, convene the Wage Board and conduct a “motu proprio” review of the existing wage order and issue a new wage order for the workers and their families to keep their heads above water.
The minimum wage in Western Visayas ranges from P450 to P500 per day. As of October 2024, there are more than 193,000 in Western Visayas, who directly benefit from the wage increase or ERA and more than 300,000 workers earning above the minimum wage who are indirectly impacted by this economic relief, he said.
But the Regional Wage Board must move with urgency. So Sancho is making an appeal to the Regional Wage Board in Western Visayas. The amount to be granted whether it is a wage hike or an ERA should not be less than P50 per day that will serve as “an immediate economic relief”. If there is any wage increase that may be granted by the Wage Board later, the P50 should be integrated into the existing salaries of the workers, he said.
It is imperative that an increase of P50 should be granted as early as possible as a manifestation of concern and recognition to the workers as “primary social economic force” whose toiling hands creates the wealth of the nation and keeps the industry moving forward. Please heed the call of the working class, especially the workers in the private sector in these trying and difficult times, Sancho’s statement added.*
