BAGUIO CITY — Daily wage earners in the Cordillera got an early Christmas present after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board here approved Thursday a P12 increase in their daily wage effective Jan. 1, 2011.
However, the increase will be applied in the provision for Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) of the workers, thus, all workers in the non-agriculture, agriculture and retail services sectors enjoying minimum wage in the region will receive the approved wage increase.
At present, the prevailing minimum daily wage in the region is P260 for the non-agriculture sector, P245 for those in the agriculture sector and P243 for those in the retail services.
While the labor sector demanded the meager wage increase will be implemented immediately, the RTWPB took into consideration the request of the management sector to implement the increase next year considering that it will be too difficult on their part to make the necessary adjustments in their books, especially that the year is about to come to an end.
Earlier, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines filed a petition for a P75 daily wage increase for private sector workers in the region because of the reported increasing inflation rate, rise in the prices of basic commodities and the difficulty of life.
However, the management sector strongly opposed the wage hike petition, citing that they are still recovering from the serious negative impact of the onslaught of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last year and the recent wrath of Typhoon Juan.
The regional RTWPB cited the need to balance the interests of both the labor and management sectors so that the increase will be beneficial to everyone rather than it resulting to increase in unemployment rate due to the eventual closure of businesses.
The new wage order will be published in a local paper of general circulation within the next weeks prior to its affectivity on January 1, 2011 so all sectors will be properly informed on the rules and regulations governing the same.
The RTWPB-Cordillera held several consultations and dialogues with the affected sectors to ascertain their definite positions to the proposed wage increase before the seven-man member deliberated and came out with the decision.
Militant labor organizations in the region were disappointed over the latest wage order, citing that the P12 daily wage increase for workers in the private sector is not sufficient to address the increasing needs of workers which are affected by the rising prices of oil products and the unstable economy of the country.
Some moderate labor groups claimed it is better to have an increase to augment their meager income rather than having none at all since the latest wage order dates back to the year 2008. – Dexter A. See
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