BACOLOD City – The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in Western Visayas approved Wage Order No. 24 yesterday.
General Alliance of Workers Association secretary-general Winnie Sancho confirmed this to Panay News through a text message.
Sancho, the labor representative to the RTWPB, said Wage Order No. 24 will cover 360,544 business establishments all over Region 6.
The new wage order prescribes a daily minimum wage rate of P365 in non-agriculture, industrial and commercial establishments employing more than 10 workers, higher compared to the previous P323.50 minimum daily wage under Wage Order No. 23.
Those employing less than 10 workers are prescribed with a daily minimum wage rate of P295, also higher compared to the previous P271.50.
In the agriculture sector, the minimum daily wage rate is also P295 – both for plantation and non-plantation workers.
Before, plantation and non-plantation workers receive P281.50 and P271.50 daily minimum wage, respectively.
The new wage adjustment was approved after a series of consultations and “bloody” deliberations, said Department of Labor and Employment regional head Johnson Cañete.
But according to Sancho, the new wage adjustment is still “far below the mandated living wage.” It may not satisfy all workers in Region 6, he added.
“Nevertheless, we have tried our best to defend the interest of the workers with the issuance of the new wage order,” said Sancho.
The latest wage adjustment seeks to provide workers in Western Visayas an “immediate relief” amid the effects of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
TRAIN’s implementation caused unabated increase in the prices of petroleum products and other basic goods and services in the country.
“This prompted organized labor groups to petition for an increase in the salaries of the workers,” Sancho said.
The Philippine Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Workers Union – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines filed a wage hike petition on Jan. 22, seeking wage increases between P130 and P150, depending on the workers’ classification.
Sancho said even if the labor sector’s petition was not granted, the regional daily minimum wage rate was still adjusted at least 13 percent higher./PN
