MANILA – The country’s largest labor group said Monday it would likely seek another minimum wage increase in December or January, following a P25 hike in Metro Manila.
Instead of appealing the P25 hike, which was below its P334 petition, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines will file a fresh petition for a P315 to P350 increase, said its spokesperson, Alan Tanjusay.
The petition will cite the “extraordinary” and “consistent” rise in consumer prices, he told radio DZMM. There is no guarantee that there will be additional rollbacks in oil prices, he said.
FOOD SUBSIDY
Tanjusay also renewed ALU-TUCP’s call for President Rodrigo Duterte to approve a monthly food voucher of P500 for minimum wage earners nationwide.
“Kailangan talaga naming itulak ito dahil kulang iyung ibinigay ng regional wage board, ng mga negosyante,” he said.
TheLabor department endorsed the proposal to Duterte in June but at a lower amount of P200.
Duterte’s advisers are still studying the subsidy’s potential impact on the economy, said Labor secretary Silvestre Bello in a separate dzMM interview. (ABS-CBN News)
