ILOILO City – Is there sufficient basis to approve the petition for a wage increase in the private sector in Western Visayas? The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) will hold a series of public consultations.
The current daily minimum wage rates in the region range from P410 to P450.
The first public consultation will be held in this city on Wednesday, July 5, to be attended by labor groups, employees and employers from the city and province of Iloilo and the province of Guimaras.
According to Atty. Sixto Rodriguez Jr., director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 6, in the second week of July another public consultation will be held in Negros Occidental for those from the province, including Bacolod City.
The public consultations aim to gather the sentiments of stakeholders on the two separate wage hike petitions filed by Iloilo City-based groups United Labor-Western Visayas in February and Iloilo Pepsi Cola Workers Independent Union in March this year.
The two labor groups were pushing for a P100 increase in the daily minimum wage.
Rodriguez said the proposed wage hike is across-the-board for all private employees, without distinction or classification.
The current P450 daily minimum wage in the region, according to the two labor groups, is no longer enough to purchase basic needs due to rising inflation.
“Hindi na raw kasya ‘yong ating minimum wage sa inflation rate at marami pa na dahilan kaya sila ay dumulog at nag-file ng petition for wage increase,” said Rodriguez, concurrent chairperson of the RTWPB-6.
He added: “We gave due course to the two petitions by calling the petitioners to appear before us to verify their legal personality.”
This means the petitioners have to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and DOLE as labor organizations or unions.
“If they are labor organizations, they must be legitimate, meaning they must be duly registered with the DOLE so they will have the legal personality to file a petition for a wage increase,” explained Rodriguez.
After proving their legitimacy, the RTWPB will consolidate the petitions and conduct a public hearing.
Chances of approved petition
According to Rodriguez, the petitions’ approval is upon all the members of the RTWPB, which is composed of DOLE, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and two representatives each from the employers and employees.
“As to the approval of these petitions, I cannot say at this point whether we will approve or not,” said Rodriguez.
The RTWPB will look into whether there is legal basis to grant the petition, particularly if there is a supervening event that can justify the petition.
The current daily minimum wage rates in Western Visayas, which took effect on June 5, 2022, range from P410 to P450. Wage Order No. RBVI-26 increased the daily minimum wage in the region to P55, or from P395 to P450.
For non-agricultural/industrial/commercial sectors employing 10 workers or less, the P310 daily minimum wage increased to P420.
For the agricultural sector, the daily minimum wage of P315 became P410.
A few days ago, the DOLE central office announced the approval of wage hike for private sector workers in the National Capital Region (NCR). They may expect a raise this month.
Metro Manila’s RTWPB issued on June 26, 2023 Wage Order No. NCR-24, which increased the daily minimum wage for non-agriculture and agriculture sector workers by P40.
The adjustment brought the daily minimum wage in NCR to P610 from the current P570 for non-agriculture sector workers.
For those in the agriculture sector, service, and retail establishments employing 15 or fewer workers as well as manufacturers regularly employing less than 10 workers, the daily minimum wage was hiked to P573 from P533.
The last wage order for workers in private establishments in NCR was issued on May 13, 2022, and became effective on June 4, 2022./PN
