LABOR WATCH

Wage Hike Pressed Anew

That wages are not enough to meet high cost of living is the reason why workers are demanding a legislated wage increase. One of two bills for wage increase has already passed first reading but Congress does not seem to give it priority. About 2,000 workers camped out for three days outside the Congress building to make their point clear.

By RONALYN OLEA
Bulatlat

More than 2,000 workers from the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog staged a camp-out in front of the main gate of the House of Representatives building at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City from April 11 to 13. 

They called for the passage of House Bill Numbers 345 and 1064 which seek to provide a P125 ($2.29, based on an exchange rate of P54.63) across-the-board wage increase for the private sector workers and a P3,000 ($54.91) salary hike for government employees, respectively. Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran is a principal sponsor of the two bills. He revealed that there are already 70 legislators supporting HB 345. Beltran said, "It's a great credit to my fellow lawmakers that they are supporting this bill, it's an important service to the workers and the Filipino people who find it more than excruciatingly difficult to make ends meet given the successive series of oil price hikes and the relentless depreciation of the peso and the real value of already low wages."

THE HEADBAND CALLS OUT: Worker wears headband bearing amount demanded as wage increase Photo courtesy of Kilusang Mayo Uno

Ultimatum

The last increase in the basic rate of the worker’s daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) happened in 1999 when former President Joseph Estrada ordered a P25.50 ($0.47) increase. The succeeding years saw the granting of minuscule increases only in the emergency cost of living allowance (ECOLA). Even then, less than 20 percent of the country's workers benefited from the ECOLA increase as its implementing rules and regulations exempted most minimum wage earners.

Anakpawis Secretary General Cherry Clemente stressed the urgency of a legislated wage hike since, she said, it is unlikely that President Macapagal-Arroyo will issue an Executive Order to raise the nationwide minimum wage rates.

STRESSING THE POINT: Even at rest, protesting workers display posters calling for wage increase Photo courtesy of Kilusang Mayo Uno

Wages not enough The minimum wage rates in the country can hardly sustain the daily cost of living for a family of six. Based on data from the National Statistics Office (NSO), the basic minimum wage in Metro Manila only amounts to P250 ($4.58) but the daily cost of living in the region stands at P602.31 ($11.02) as of 2004. According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), the basic minimum wage in areas outside NCR ranges from P147 ($2.69) to P228 ($4.17). The rates are way beyond the P470.72 ($8.62) daily cost of living computed by the NSO in 2004. The situation of agricultural workers is even worse as their wages range from P135 or $2.47 (Western Visayas) to P222 or $4.06 (Northern Mindanao). Again, the rates are insufficient to cover the P447.41 ($8.19) daily cost of living for the agricultural sector.

A question of priority

The House, Clemente also said, only needs to express its support for the bill on the P125 ($2.29) wage hike. “Our legislators should channel their support for this instead of the pending value-added tax increase and anti-terrorism bills, which are both geared to suppressing the peoples’ economic and political rights,” she said.

She added that the calls for wage hikes and political rights will not end with the camp-out. “Expect more nationwide protests if the workers’ demands fall on deaf ears,” Clemente said. Bulatlat

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