P15 wage hike for Metro Manila workers ‘insulting’

Labor groups expressed dismay over the P15 wage increase for Metro Manila workers approved by the wage board on Tuesday.

In separate statements, two of the country’s biggest labor groups said the P15 wage hike for Metro Manila workers is “insulting” and “disrespectful.”

The Kilusang Mayo Uno said the P15 wage hike approved by the Metro Manila wage board for is nil compared to what workers need to cope with the cost of day-to-day living.

The approved wage increase is “meager” and “insulting” to the country’s workers and will not stop protests against the government.

“If [President] Aquino thinks this wage hike will weaken workers’ protests calling for his resignation, then he is sorely mistaken. This meager wage hike is insulting to workers and does not address the government’s and big capitalists’ attacks against the minimum wage,” he said.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)– Nagkaisa, on the other hand, said the wage increase is unacceptable.

TUCP Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said Filipino workers who continue to contribute to improve and sustain the country’s high economic growth under the Aquino administration for so many years deserve more than a P15 wage increase. - Jonathan L. Mayuga / BusinessMirror