BAGUIO CITY (26 June) — The Cordillera Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, or RTWPB has received a formal petition for wage increase in the amount of P75.00 per day.
Ogie Aquillo, RTWPB Information Officer in his weekly column entitled Labor Frontier said that the petition was filed on behalf of all workers in the region by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines or TUCP, one of the more recognized umbrella labor organizations, having various local labor unions all over the country as members.
According to Aquillo, TUCP justified its request of P75 increase by citing facts and figures on the movement of prices of basic goods and commodities in the region from June 1989 to April 2006.
He said that, based on the petition, the movement, technically called by economists as Consumer Price Index (CPI), has risen from 40.8 percent in 1989 to 138.8 percent on April 2006, an equivalent of 3.41 times increase. Add this to the TUCP projection of five percent increase in prices up to December 2006, we shall arrive at a total of 3.46 times increase. From these data and based on CPI, the actual amount a worker should be receiving is P308 per day as shown by multiplying P89 (minimum wage in 1989) with 3.46 percent. There is therefore a shortage in the amount of P83 per day because the minimum wage right now is P225 per day. According to TUCP, it is not claiming the whole amount of P83 but only P75 in deference to the negative effect of an outright P83 increase on the business.
Aquillo likewise stated that TUCPs presentation warrants a serious consideration. It offers a valid information depicting realities of the times where employees need a higher pay. But this may present one side of the situation only.
Aquillo however has called on all employers to also present the best factual data on the cost of doing business and the capacity of employers to pay. It is nice to hear from them so that the pros and cons of the issue on wage increase are laid out on the table, Aquillo added.
He also announced that position papers on the issue may be submitted to the RTWPB office at the Benitez Compound, Magsaysay Avenue. A public hearing on wage increase was scheduled on July 7, 2 p.m at the Venus Park View Hotel, Kisad Road. (PIA)
