BACOLOD City – The General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA), a local labor rights group, will be pushing for a new round of salary increase before the regional wage board this year.
GAWA secretary-general Wennie Sancho said this move is due to the implementation of the last tranche of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, adding such policy has raised the excise tax on gasoline, diesel, and liquified petroleum gas.
According to Sancho, the rise in oil prices will consequently also increase the price of basic goods and services and the transport sector had already voiced their plans to file a consolidated petition for fare hike nationwide this month.
He further pointed out the extraordinary increases will trigger a “supervening condition” that shall compel them to file another round of wage hike to protect the erosion of the purchasing power of laborers in the region.
On October last year, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Western Visayas approved the wage increase of P30 for laborers working in both commercial and industrial sectors.
Sancho lauded the approval, he however pointed out that the wage increase is still “low” and insubstantial./PN
