• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The General Alliance of Workers Assn. (GAWA) is asking the Regional Tripartite Wages & Productivity Board (RTWPB 6) Western Visayas for its decision on the call of the workers for adequate and substantial wage increase.
In his letter to RTWPB6 dated October 21, GAWA secretary-general Wennie Sancho said the demand for an adequate wage increase in Western Visayas, is the social right to demand for just compensation, for the value of labor power that the workers put in, to fuel the industry and economy in general.
Unfortunately, however, minimum wages in Region 6 have remained inadequate to support decent living, after almost three decades and a half of wage rationalization. This is an indication of the failure of the government to provide economic relief for the workers to secure adequate and just compensation amidst the erosion of their purchasing power.
Labor is the leading creator of wealth in any society. Transport, agriculture and nearly all industries and economic activities would grind to a halt, without the creative hands of labor. Workers are the most productive and yet they are the least rewarded in our society. The Philippine Constitution acknowledges them to be “the primary social economic force” and yet they remain underpaid, under protected, underfed and underemployed.
In terms of computation as to how much is the amount of wage increase per day, our reference is the purchasing power of the peso (PPP). The real value of the peso in buying goods and services continues to deteriorate. There is a continuous decline in the real value of the minimum wage due to the erosion of the workers’ purchasing power because of inflation. The formula in determining the PPP is 1/CPIx100 equals PPP. The amount when multiplied with our daily minimum wage will show the amount lost by a worker daily that must be recovered to restore his purchasing power. This will justify whether the current minimum wage still serves its purpose – that of protecting the vulnerable workers from the vagaries of the market. Increasing wages is the most effective way of improving the lives of the workers and their families and the fairest means to equitably distribute the country’s fruits of production.
We believe that any substantial increase in the purchasing power of the workers, redound to greater economic participation as, normally, workers incomes, when increased are but spent on domestic purchases, pump priming the economy. But beyond being a measure that will give immediate economic relief for the workers in Region 6, a petition for a substantial wage increase is an issue of social justice. No less than the Philippine Constitution in Art. XIII, Section 3, mandates that “The State shall afford full protection to labor”. This statement of principles is not merely an aim, but a means of providing the workers with a decent standard of living.
The struggle of the workers for just and equitable wage increase would not be complete, as long as there is a great gap between the rich and the poor, those who are in abject poverty and those who have extreme wealth. The end of social justice is to ensure the dignity, welfare and economic security of the workers. Therefore, the call for an adequate and substantial wage increase is the call for social justice, and we, the workers deserve an answer from the members of the Regional Wage Board because it is within your mandate to render a fair and equitable decision in the name of social justice.*