TUCP wants P163-hike in wage for Region 11

By Cheneen R. Capon
Days before the 130th Labor Day, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) petitioned the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board- Region (RTWPB) of Region 11 yesterday for an increase of P163 to the existing P317 daily nominal wage for workers in Davao Region.
“Data from the government’s National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) show the real value of the current P317 nominal daily wage is P209.38 which is only equivalent to P5, 443.88 a month since February this year,” said Partylist Rep. Raymond Mendoza, TUCP president.
The wage erosion, he said, was due to a series of increases in the prices of basic goods and the costs of basic services. To restore the P317 to its intended real value, he said, workers need a daily wage increase of P163, which is equivalent to a nominal value of P480.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) fixed the First Quarter 2015 poverty threshold amounting to P11, 319 a month in Region 11.
Comparing the NWPC’s current P5,443.88 monthly real wage with the poverty threshold of P11, 319, all minimum-waged earners are living in extreme poverty, Mendoza said.
If the wage board will approve P480 to become the daily nominal wage, the equivalent monthly nominal wage will be P12, 480. But because of inflation, the real value of P12, 480 is still below the poverty threshold which means that minimum-waged workers will still live below poverty line.
Government defines poverty threshold as the minimum income required for a family of five to meet basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) including non-food needs such as clothing, housing, transportation, health and education expenses to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive.
“With the purchasing power of current wage level continuing to fall, we are not asking for a wage increase. We rather petitioned the wage board today asking them to restore the salary of workers to its real value so that they remain close to the poverty threshold and save some of them from the verge of falling into the cracks down to extreme poverty.
“Government and employers must respond and help restore real wage value now,” Mendoza said.
The TUCP is the country’s biggest labor center of organized private and public sector unions and workers organizations both in the formal and informal economy sectors in different industries.
“We are hoping that through this petition, officials of concerned government agencies will become more relevant and employers who refused to share their wealth with workers who helped them improve their profit margins shall be enlightened,” said Mendoza.
He said the extent of the wage disparity is reflected in the PSA’s January 2016 Labor Force Survey (LFS) released in March showing there were 7.879 million workers whose income is inadequate.
The wage board is expected to conduct a public hearing before deciding the appropriate amount of increase. In 2014, the TUCP also filed a wage hike petition. The wage board granted only P11 daily wage increase.