CITING the disparity on the salaries of workers in public and private sector as well as increases in prices of basic goods due to the new tax reform law, a labor leader pushed for a P150 daily salary increase for minimum wage earners in Western Visayas.
Wennie Sancho, labor representative to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas, Monday, January 15, told VoxPop Bacolod that he is going to manifest the said wage increase during the Board’s meeting in Bacolod City tomorrow.
After which, they will file a petition for wage increase, also this month, before the expiration of the existing Wage Order on March 16 this year.
Sancho, also the secretary general of General Alliance of Workers Association (Gawa), said the increase in salaries of private sector workers in the region is a “necessity” since those of police, military and teachers are also increasing.
“Workers in the region will be left out if there will be no rightful increase for them. They will be included to 60 percent of Filipinos living below the poverty line,” he added.
Under the Duterte administration, salaries for police and military increased to almost double at almost P30,000 and P19,000 per month, respectively, specifically for entry level ranks.
Teachers, those with Salary Grade 11, will have a gross basic salary of P20,179 from the previous P19,620 also on top of other incentives.
Salary rate for minimum wage earners in Western Visayas, meanwhile, is only about P9,700 per month given the daily wage of P323.50.
In most cases, private sector workers only receive about P8,400 every month since they only have 26 payable working days. Worse, for those who are receiving P271.50 per day only, Sancho said.
Under Wage Order No. 3, the current daily minimum wage rate in non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers is P323.50. For those employing less than 10 workers, the rate is P271.50.
“The wage disparity is so wide that a wage hike in Region 6 should be P150 per day for the workers to recover their lost purchasing power,” Sancho said.
The workers purchasing power will be eroded due to the impact of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law that will increase the prices of all basic goods and services including water, electricity, and transportation cost, among others, he added.
Sancho said the labor group believes that wage disparity plus the implementation of the tax reform law are major supervening conditions that demand an urgent wage increase.
He added that the P150 “rightful” increase would allow private sector workers in the region to cope with the impending adverse effects of tax reform.
“The bigger erosion in purchasing power, the higher should be the increase for the workers to compensate for the losses,” Sancho said.
