Substantial wage hike unlikely, labor admits

LABOR groups sought President Rodrigo Duterte’s intervention for a “substantial” wage increase for some 4 million wage earners in Metro Manila, after a consultation on Monday with the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR).

Representatives of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) submitted during the meeting a supplementary position paper amending its original P320 daily wage hike petition filed in June 2018 to P334 a day.

ALU-TUCP Vice President Louie Corral admitted that the petition for a substantial wage increase was unlikely to be granted, saying that “the NCR regional wage boards were just being polite, perfunctory and routine and just wanted to get over it.”

“It looks like the NCR wage board is not sure about its full mandate. These are times of economic hardship and difficulty for workers in a supposedly growing economy. We fear that what we encountered today are wage board members who don’t want to take real responsibility and make the hard decisions for fairness and decency,” Corral said.

Amid rising prices of goods and cost of services, the President should intervene in the wage issue, he said, adding it might be mishandled and result in a backlash against the Duterte government.

“We therefore call on the President to lead from the front on the wage petition issue. Workers are already barely surviving on their daily minimum wages,” Corral said.

Corral claimed that economic managers were pre-empting the wage board deliberations and misleading the President by saying that a substantial wage increase would be inflationary.

Inflation, however, was caused by profiteers and cartels in electricity, petroleum and rice, as well as the excise tax and value-added tax on power and oil, he said.

Metro Manila workers recieve P512 minimum wage a day. The real value or purchasing power of the minimum wage, however, has fallen to P340 a day, the group said.

The last wage increase, amounting to P21 per day, was granted to minimum-wage earners in Metro Manila on Oct. 5, 2017, out of the original petition of P184 per day.

It brought the daily minimum wage rate in the private sector to P512 from P491.

ALU-TUCP has also sought from the government a P500 monthly grocery subsidy for minimum-wage earners to help them cope with rising inflation and eroding wages.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said he had recommended a P200 subsidy to the President, subject to the approval of the Departments of Finance and of Budget and Management. - By WILLIAM DEPASUPIL, TMT

Labor union pushes P320 wage increase

Current daily minimum wage - NWPC

The Alliance of Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Thursday urged the National Capital Region-Regional Wages and Productivity Board to grant its P320 wage increase petition amid rising prices of goods and the approval of a P1 fare hike for public utility vehicles.

“With the fare increase, there is now a very urgent need for the Metro Manila wage board to grant a substantial wage increase for workers in the NCR for them to survive in the light of the extraordinary increases in prices of basic goods and costs of services in the past 10 months, including this P1 jeepeny fare increase,” ALU-TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay told the Manila Standard.

He said that “a regional across-the-board wage increase of P320 is now needed in NCR because the existing P512 daily minimum wage is not enough for a household with at least five members to survive and live “a decent life.”

By law, the wage can only be raised after a year from the last increase, unless there is a supervening event that will merit an adjustment, the labor group said.

The increase in jeepney and bus fares and the continuing rise in the price of commodities would substantiate the supervening event to merit a wage hike.

Tanjusay said that the last minimum wage increase in Metro Manila took effect on Oct. 5, 2017. The current minimum wage is ₱512.

He said the TUCP would not oppose the P1 fare increase for PUJ granted by the LTFRB, because the increase will improve the take-home pay of the jeepney drivers and help their families cope with the current rate of inflation.

The NCR wage board will meet on Oct. 22 to determine how much of a wage hike to grant Metro Manila workers. -by Vito Barcelo

Labor groups back jeepney fare hike

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines ( ALU-TUCP) will not oppose the P1 fare increase for public utility jeepney as this would help improve the take home pay of jeepney drivers.

Jeepneys pass by the elliptical road near the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City to collect passengers Friday. (ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN)

“We will not object to the P1 PUJ fare increase at this time because the increase will improve the take home pay of our jeepney drivers and help their families cope with the current incredible inflation,” said ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay in a statement.

The workers group, however, said that the fare increase calls for a substantial wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region.

ALU TUCP cited the increase in the prices of goods and services as reasons for this.

“There is now a very urgent need for the Metro Manila wage board to grant a substabtial wage increase for workers in the NCR for them to survive in the light of the extraordinary increases in prices of basic goods and costs of services in the past ten months including this P1 jeepney fare increase,” Tanjusay said.

The Federation of Free Workers echoed the same call.

“Before the fare increase takes effect, the wage board should act soon. A paltry salary increase of 20 pesos in Metro Manila will most likely be eaten up this fare increase. A family of five who rides the jeepney at least once a day to get out of the house for work, school or the market, then ride the jeepney again to go back home, would have already used half of the 20 pesos just for jeepney fares,” FFW vice president Julius Cainglet said.

“Congress can do two things: Remove the additional and burdensome excise tax that the TRAIN Law introduced, and increase the wage of workers by legislation,” he added.

The NCR wage board will meet on Monday, October 22 to begin to determine how much amount is the wage increase for NCR workers. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

Sexual harassment victims urged to surface, push rights

ORGANIZED labor has called on victims of sexual harassment in workplaces to come out in the open and fight for their rights.

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), the country’s biggest labor group, on Sunday issued the call as it expressed its support to television journalist Gretchen Fullido, who broke her silence about the alleged sexual harassment that she had experienced.

The group said it admires Fullido’s courage in bringing her complaint to court but added that the alleged offenders have also the right to be heard.

PROMOTING MENTAL HEALTH An advocate for mental health holds a banner during the solidarity walk held by health advocates in Manila on Sunday to promote mental health. PHOTO BY GERARD SEGUIA

Fullido filed sexual harassment complaint against ABS-CBN News segment producer Maricar Asprec and former ABS-CBN News executive Cheryl Favila who allegedly sent Fullido text messages to asking for sexual favors.

They denied Fullido’s allegations.

“The ALU-TUCP is also monitoring the development of this case for what it can do for other workers experiencing sexual harassment particularly those hesitant to stand up out of real fear and pressure,” ALU spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

ALU national vice president Eva Arcos expressed belief that there were many victims of sexual harassment in work places who chose to remain silent for fear of reprisal and losing their jobs.

“When something like this happens, we need to provide safety, search for truth, work for justice, facilitate healing and empowerment. We all have obligations to stop all forms of abnormalization and aggravation of violence in workplaces, learning environment and communities,” she said.

Tanjusay said the ALU-TUCP hopes for an expeditious resolution of the case to determine if Fullido was indeed sexually harassed and if the spirit, principles and specific provisions of the Constitution and laws particularly on human, labor and women’s dignity and rights were respected.

Tanjusay also asked the Department of Labor and Employment to come up with a sample workplace policy template and issue an order on workplace romance policy guidelines.

“Many do not know that workplace romance policy, by tweaking its provisions, can boost productivity and creativity of employees. Such policy adoption also discourages favoritism and sexual harassment, stave off abuse and minimize miscommunication within the enterprise,” he said. - By WILLIAM DEPASUPIL, TMT