NCR minimum wage earners to get P15 pay hike

MANILA -- Close to 600,000 minimum wage earners in Metro Manila are set to receive an additional P15 in their daily pay beginning mid-April which militant groups said is not even enough to cover for the recent increase in train fares.

Metro Manila's minimum wage is currently at P466 for those working outside the agriculture sector.

This will jump to P481 in the next few weeks after the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) issued Wage Order 19 on Wednesday. Minimum pay for agricultural workers will grow to P444.

“The minimum wage hike is expected to be affirmed and published this week and take effect 15 days after its publication,” said Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) spokesperson Nicon Fameronag.

The P15 pay hike is a far cry from the P146.80 across-the-board wage increase sought by the Association of Minimum Wage Earners and Advocates last November 2014 and the P136 across-the-board pay adjustment asked by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) last March 6.

The last wage order was issued on September 6, 2013.

“In coming up with the figure, we need to consider the hard balancing job of factoring the concerns of employers, workers, and the government,” said Dole-NCR Director Alex Avila.

He added that they considered, among others, the erosion of minimum wage, inflation rate, impact of wage adjustment on prices of goods and services, consumer price index, employers’ ability to pay, and the current economic condition in the region.

“Like in the past years, employers will be able to bear the cost of the increase without hampering their viability for growth and expansion,” said Fameronag.

The NCR wage board said establishments, whose assets are not more than P3 million, are no longer allowed to apply for exemption from following the minimum wage rate.

Still allowed to apply for exemption are distressed establishments, retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers, and establishments adversely affected by natural calamities.

Fameronag said 587,000 minimum wage earners are set to directly benefit from the wage order out of the 4.6 million workers in Metro Manila.

He said the labor department has already advised employers to also look into the issue of wage distortion with the issuance of the latest wage order.

Wage distortion arises when, after implementation of a prescribed minimum wage increase, existing salary differentials in the salary structure of an establishment are eliminated or severely contracted.

“It is a natural consequence during minimum wage increases to result to wage distortion. That’s why we have told employers that they may have to revisit their pay structure so that there will be no wage distortion,” Fameronag said.

Fameronag, however, clarified that the salary adjustment for non-minimum wage earners is not mandatory.

The TUCP assailed the decision of the NCR wage board, saying the amount is unacceptable.

“This amount is revolting. Rather than closing the gap between rich and poor, government officials in the Board has further widened the gaping inequality among Filipinos—between a few elite and a famished majority who live to survive by the day,” said TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay in a statement.

The TUCP said the amount is offensive for workers considering the recent fare hikes implemented by the Metro Rail Transit (fare increase ranges from P8 to P16), Light Rail Transit 1 (from P5 to P10), LRT 2 (from P6 to P12) and the forthcoming Philippine National Railways fare hike (from P5 to P15).
Electricity and water rates in the capital region also picked up last month.

“Region-based wage hikes don’t address the attacks carried out against the minimum wage in the country for decades. We are fighting for the implementation of a national minimum wage in the amount of P16,000 monthly to give workers some immediate relief and to turn back the attacks against the minimum wage throughout the country,” said Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Elmer Labog.

According to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, the so-called family living wage in the country, or the amount needed daily by an average Filipino family to live decently, stood at P1,086 last August 2014. (HDT/Sunnex) SunStar

DAGDAG SAHOD | 587,000 minimum wage earners in Metro Manila get P15 more in daily pay

Workers take a break. FILE PHOTO BY BERNARD TESTA

MANILA - About 587,000 minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will soon get P15 more in their daily pay after the regional tripartite board approved the proposal for an increase, the Department of Labor and Employment said in a press briefing Wednesday.

The minimum wage, as well as the minimum wage earner’s hazard pay, holiday pay, night shift differential, and overtime pay, is exempt from income tax, said Alex Avila, regional director of the labor department’s Metro Manila office.

“The take-home pay of our minimum wage earners will increase to P492.57 per day, or by 3.2 percent because of the wage hike, compared to the current P477.03 per day. They will also enjoy a higher 13th month pay and increased social security coverage,” Avila said.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, head of the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), said the new pay hike is the 19th increase in minimum wages since Republic Act 6727, or The Wage Rationalization Act, became a law on 9 June 1989, and the fifth such minimum wage pay hike under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

According to the resolution of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) granting the P15 increase in the daily basic minimum wage, the P15 Cost of Living Allowance in effect since January 2014 will also continue.

“The minimum wage hike is expected to be affirmed by the NWPC this week, and the RTWPB will publish it, after which it will take effect 15 days after its publication,” Avila said in his report.

Avila also heads the RTWPB-NCR.

RTWPB - composed of representatives of labor and management, and the government, specifically the Department of Trade and Industry, National Economic Development Authority, and the DOLE – considered the following factors in its decision: the erosion in the minimum wage; inflation rate; possible impact of the minimum wage adjustment on prices of goods and services, as well as on employment; movements in the consumer price index; the current economic condition in the region; employers’ ability to pay; and the results of its continuing studies, sectoral consultations, and public hearings.

“The decision of the RTWPB-NCR to adjust the minimum wage was consistent with the government’s policy of granting regular, moderate, and predictable minimum wage adjustments, taking into consideration the needs of workers and their families, as well as the need to maintain stability in the business environment within the framework of the two-tiered wage system reform which Secretary Baldoz has initiated in 2012 and which we accelerate to implement,” said Avila.

Cost to employers

“On the part of the employers, their effective labor cost per employee working six day a week will also increase by 3.2 percent, or P565.54 per day, compared to the current P547.87 per day,” Avila said.

He expressed confidence that as in the past year, employers will be able to bear the cost of the increase without hampering their viability for growth and expansion and, therefore, their ability to sustain employment creation.

“In January 2014, when the second tranche of the minimum wage increase consisting of the integration into the basic minimum wage of the P15 of a P30 COLA granted by the RTWPB-NCR in October 2013 took effect, employment was at 88 percent, unemployment was at 11.2 percent, and underemployment was at 12.1 percent.

“Today, employment in the NCR is at 90.7 percent; unemployment is at 9.3 percent; and underemployment is at only 8.3 percent. So, we see that this significant improvements in these economic indicators will not be affected by the new minimum wage order, but instead continue until the end of the year and beyond, barring any glitches,” Avila explained.

With the increase, he said, the RTWPB was able to maintain a near-to-the-ideal ratio of the minimum wage to average wage, which is 40 to 70 percent, at 75 percent, down from 80 percent when the current administration came to office in 2010.

“The applicable minimum wage-to-average wage ratio for the country is not too close, to allow for bipartite approaches and flexibility in plant-level negotiations for further benefits,” he said.

In this latest minimum wage pay hike, Avila noted another bright note: Establishments whose total assets - including those arising from loans, but exclusive of the land on which the establishments’ offices, plants, and equipment are located - cost not more than P3 million.

“They are no longer included in the list of establishments that may apply for one year exemption. Only distressed establishments, retail/service establishments regularly employing not more than 10 workers, and establishments adversely affected by natural calamities may apply for exemption and as determined by the RTWPB-NCR,” Avila said.

Prior to this new wage order, the RTWPB-NCR received two petitions for an across-the-board daily wage increases. The first petition was filed by the Association of Minimum Wage Earners & Advocates (PTGWO-AMWEA) TUCP-ITUC last 28 November 2014 seeking for a P146.80 across-the-board daily wage increase, while the second petition was by the TUCP, filed on 6 March 2015, seeking for a P136.00 across- the-board daily wage increase.

Aside from its continuing studies and researches, the RTWPB-NCR conducted three public consultations last 29 January with the labor sector; on 10 February with the management sector; and on 17 February with the government sector. It also conducted a public hearing on 6 March to ensure hearing broad views and perspectives and to elicit participation of the social partners and key stakeholders.

“Unfortunately, the RTWPB is not mandated to set across-the-board wage increases. Our mandate is to set minimum wages,” the board said in its decision. - InterAksyon.com

Working poor can’t afford cost of basic goods — TUCP

At least 20 million poorest of the working poor nationwide can no longer afford the P293 daily cost of food and other basic commodities needed by a Filipino family of five to survive, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) said on Monday.

The TUCP urged the Aquino administration to take steps to ease the workers’ burden following a survey showing poverty erodes the poor workers’ take home pay and has now overtaken minimum wage earners’ in Metro Manila and in all other regions in the Philippines since last year.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2014 survey released March 6, poverty incidence among Filipino families worsened to 20% in the first half of 2014 from 18.8% in 2013 while the subsistence incidence rose from 7.5% in 2013 to 7.6% this year.

The result also showed incomes of poor families were short by 27% of the average poverty threshold of P8,778/month or P293/day 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 in order to move out of poverty.

“With its 400 days left in office, President Noynoy Aquino must re-focus and re-devote his remaining time, energy, and political capital if he still he wants to make a direct impact to Filipino workers and their families. Rather than being kept busy by sexy political issues, he has to address one of the core issue of growing and escalating poverty incidence,” TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

In the National Capital Region (NCR) alone, the highest minimum wage in all 17 regions, 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 10.5% 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 amount of P293/daily amount. The current real value of the P280 daily minimum wage is P184/day.

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) 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% in the first semester of 2014 to 1.7% in the same period of 2013. - By Vito Barcelo / Manila Standard Today

4M more can’t afford daily cost of living – labor group

There are now four million more of the more than 20 million poorest of the working poor nationwide who cannot even afford the daily P293 cost of food and basic commodities needed by a Filipino family of five to survive, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) declared on Monday.

With this, the labor group urged the government to take immediate solutions, citing a survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showing that poverty continues to surpass poor workers’ take-home pay and has now overtaken minimum wage earners’ in Metro Manila and in all other regions in the Philippines since last year.

Results of the 2014 survey released March 6 this year also 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 results showed, too, that incomes of poor families were short by 27 percent of the average poverty threshold of P8,778/month or P293/day 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 in order to move out of poverty.

“With its 400 days left in office, President [Benigno] Aquino [3rd] must refocus and redevote his remaining time, energy and political capital if he still he wants to make a direct impact [on] Filipino workers and their families. Rather than being kept busy by sexy political issues, he has to address one of the core issues of growing and escalating poverty incidence,” TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

In the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) alone that pays 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 PSA survey further showed that income of 10.5 percent of the working population cannot afford even the food threshold alone.

The poorest are in Eastern Visayas region—hardest hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013—with 2.2 million families who cannot afford the minimum amount of P293 daily amount. The current real value of the P280 daily minimum wage is P184 a day.

The National Economic and Development Authority cited rapid rise in food prices and lingering effects of Yolanda as key reasons why poverty worsened.

Rice prices alone increased by 11.9 percent in the first semester of 2014, compared to 1.7 percent for the same period in 2013. - by JING VILLAMENTE The Manila Times