BACOLOD City– Negrense labor leader Wennie Sancho has called on employers in Western Visayas to enforce the P15 to P30 pay increase.
“With or without a copy of the order and the IRR (implementing rules and regulations), we urge the management to implement the wage hike in the spirit of Christmas,” Sancho, a workers’ representative to Region 6’s Regional Wages and Productivity Board (RTWBP), said on Thursday.
The additional salary can help stabilize the purchasing power of the workers in the region, he added.
Sancho said that during their regular meeting here on Wednesday, the board did not discuss any opposition from the management, which was given until Nov. 21 to submit an appeal.
The daily minimum wage increase was set to take effect on Nov. 27, or 15 days after the publication on Nov. 11.
“Appeal or no appeal, it could not restrain the implementation of the wage order,” Sancho said.
Approved on Oct. 22, Wage Order 25 provides a P30 increase for workers in non-agriculture, industrial, and commercial establishments employing more than 10 employees. In this sector, the new rate is P395 from the previous P365 per day.
Employees of establishments with less than 10 workers will receive an additional P15 – from P295 to P310.
For the agricultural sector, plantation workers will get a P20 hike – from P295 to P315.
Sancho said the RTWBP-6 has yet to get copies of both the IRR and the Wage Order 25, with the signature of Labor secretary Silvestre Bello III.
Still, that is just a “minor” problem since employers can implement the wage increase even without these, he added.(PNA)
