TUCP: Survey says 4 M new poor workers in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP) on Monday bared that there are four million new poor workers nationwide.

Quoting a recent poll released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said these new poor workers cannot afford the P293 projected daily cost of food and basic commodities of a Filipino family of five to survive.

With this, the labor group urged the government to take immediate solutions to address growing poverty and unemployment in the country.

Results of 2014 survey released last March 6 showed that poverty incidence among Filipino families worsened to 20 percent in the first half of 2014 from 18.8 percent in 2013 while the subsistence incidence rose from 7.5 percent in 2013 to 7.6 percent this year.

The result also showed incomes of poor families were short by 27 percent of the average poverty threshold of P8,778 per month or P293 daily for a family of five in the first semester of 2014. This means, on the average, an additional P2,370 was needed by a poor worker and his family with five members to move out of poverty.

"With only 400 days left in office, President Noynoy Aquino must re-focus and re-devote his remaining time, energy, and political capital if he still wants to make a direct impact on Filipino workers and their families," Tanjusay said.

In the National Capital Region alone, the highest minimum wage in all 17 regions, the government said the real value of the current P466 minimum daily wage is P356.64 or P7,846.08 a month or P932 short of the poverty threshold.

The same survey showed that 10.5 percent of the working population whose income cannot afford even the food threshold alone.

The poorest is in Yolanda-hit Eastern Visayas region with 2.2 million families who cannot afford the minimum daily cost of P293. The current real value of the P280 daily minimum wage is P184.

The National Economic Development Authority cited the rapid rise in food prices and the lingering effects of typhoon Yolanda as key reasons poverty worsened. Rice prices alone increased to 11.9 percent in the first semester of 2014 to 1.7 percent in the same period of 2013. - By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

TUCP: Wage hike moratorium ended October last year

A labor group clarified that the one-year moratorium on wage hike petition has ended October last year.

MANILA, Philippines - Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) on Tuesday clarified that the one-year moratorium on wage hike petition ended October last year.

The group made the clarification after Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte last week said that the moratorium will only end on May 2015.

"The one-year moratorium ended on October 2014 not on May 2015. She is misinformed about wage increase petition and it’s unprofessional to be presidential spokesperson when you don’t know the basic and gut issues of the country. ..it’s revolting that public servants at her level keeps gives the public wrong information. She better correct this," TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

The labor group filed its P136 wage hike petition last January 29 this year.

When asked to comment on the wage hike petition, Valte said labor groups would have to wait for a one-year prescriptive period before they can file another wage petition because the last increase was given on May 2014.

Last week, the Regional Wages and Productivity Board convened and conducted a first of three public consultation on the petition filed by TUCP for a P136 hike on the minimum wage.

The current minimum wage in Metro Manila is P466 but due to the spate of increase in basic social services and commodities, its real value is at P356.64, the TUCP said. - By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

TUCP, humihingi ng P136 across-the-board increase sa minimum wage sa NCR

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Decision on Metro Manila minimum wage out early-April

THE STATE BODY that sets the daily minimum wage in the country’s capital is expected to decide by the first week of next month if an increase from the current P429-466 is warranted.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) held a public hearing on Friday -- the last of four consultations since January -- for all parties with interest in two petitions to raise the daily floor wage.

The Labor department’s National Wages and Productivity Commission requires regional boards to come up with a wage order within 30 days from the last public hearing.

Alberto R. Quimpo, RTWPB-NCR board member representing employers, said the first board meeting to discuss results of public consultations has been set tentatively on March 16.

RTWPB-NCR has received two petitions since November last year which will be used among bases for the seven-member body to come up with a decision, board chairman Alex V. Avila said in an interview at the sidelines of the public hearing in Pasay City. “[T]he board will deliberate on the petitions. We will consider all the position papers, the petitions, and the outputs of these three consultations and the public hearing,” Mr. Avila said.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP) faction has asked for a P136 across-the-board wage hike, while another group, the Association of Minimum Wage Earners and Advocates (AMWEA), sought a P734 increase to be implemented in five equal tranches.

Both groups cited increasing utility rates and fare hikes for Metro Manila’s railway systems that took effect Jan. 4.

During the public hearing on Friday, TUCP Spokesman Alan A. Tanjusay added that the looming increase in tuition fees would be an added burden to workers. “The real value of P466 is P356.64… because of inflation,” Mr. Tanjusay said. “We need the P136 to restore the purchasing power of workers in NCR.”

AMWEA representative Margarita A. Greofaldio told the board in Filipino: “The board should provide a realistic wage… We all know the current minimum wage is not enough to live decently, much less for a family.”

She also asked the wage board to show computations leading to its decision “so it will not appear that what they approved was arbitrary.”

Speaking on behalf of employers, Mr. Quimpo opposed both petitions, saying in an interview: “It cannot be... it’s impossible”, even as he clarified that the Employers Confederation of the Philippines has yet to make a formal stand.

Ma. Elena G. Francisco, legal counsel of the Philippine Constructors’ Association, warned of capital flight and massive retrenchment should labor costs shoot up.

“We should instead look at how to increase employment opportunities for majority of workers (not just minimum wage earners),” Ms. Francisco said in Filipino.

“Not all employers are profitable enough to pay higher salaries. There are also small- and medium-scale enterprises that could close up shop if labor cost rises too much,” she explained.

“Others can afford to pull out their businesses, so we will see capital flight. If these investors, who employ many, flee to other economies where labor is more friendly, what will happen to us? Our economy will suffer,” she continued.

“So, let us weigh all considerations.”

Metro Manila’s minimum wage was last adjusted in September 2013, involving a P10 hike in basic pay after two TUCP factions filed for increases of P83 and P85. Other regions followed suit in adjusting floor wages. - By Melissa Luz T. Lopez BusinessWorld