This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 10, April 17-23, 2005
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 due priority. About 2,000 workers
camped out for three days outside the Congress building to make their point
clear.
By
RONALYN OLEA 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." 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. 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 © 2004 Bulatlat
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