Labor group revives call for wage hike

Posted on by

MILITANT labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is now pushing for another round of minimum -age hike amid the rising prices of basic goods and services during the pandemic.

In a statement, KMU secretary general Jerome Adonis said on Wednesday the existing minimum-wage rates is no longer sufficient for workers to cope with the higher prices, particularly of food items.

“The prices of pork and vegetables are already high. The prices [of these items] are now increasing and the Duterte government has no steps to ensure workers cope and survive,” Adonis said.

KMU said its now planning to file another wage petition before the regional wage boards to address the situation.  It also sought the immediate passage of the P750 National Minimum Wage Bill, which is pending in Congress.

“It has been a long time . . . but the wages of the workers remain unchanged. Our call is to fast-track the approval of the wage hike so that we could buy what we need. The government needs workers if it wants the country to recover [from the pandemic],” Adonis said.

This, despite the assurance of Malacañang that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is now trying to bring down the prices of basic food items through importation and enforcement of the suggested retail price.

Prices of pork now exceed P400 a kilo on average; while prices of vegetables have also spiked, as vegetable farms in several parts of the country were damaged by the series of typhoons in the last quarter of 2020.

Earlier this week, President Duterte signed an executive order reverting to P5—from a high of 40 percent—the tariff rate for imported mechanically deboned meat, of chicken and turkey. This was meant to avert a spike in processed meat products, especially hotdogs and cheap food fare for ordinary households, which use MDM.

Last year, only the regional wage board of the Cagayan Valley Region was  able to implement a wage hike.

The other regional wage boards opted to defer issuing a new wage order with the onset of Covid-19, which cause an economic slowdown leading to mass labor displacements nationwide.

Currently, Metro Manila has the highest minimum-wage rate with P537, while the lowest is in the Ilocos Region with P282.

In an SMS, National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) Executive Director Maria Criselda R. Sy told BusinessMirror they have yet to get notice of a regional wage board, which has initiated stakeholder or public consultations this year for a possible minimum-wage hike.