Workers’ groups Partido Manggagawa (PM) and Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) have rejected the newly approved P42 daily wage increase in Central Visayas, calling for a P200 legislated wage hike nationwide.
In a joint statement issued Sept. 27, the groups said the increase would not sufficiently address workers’ declining purchasing power amid elevated prices of basic goods and services.
The National Wages and Productivity Commission affirmed on Sept. 26 the new wage order issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board 7, raising the daily minimum wage to P582 in Class A areas, including Expanded Metro Cebu, and to P542 in Class B areas. The new rates are expected to take effect on Oct. 14 after the required publication period.
The groups said the P42 adjustment would not adequately offset the cost of food, transportation, electricity, housing, education and other household needs.
They also pointed to the region’s elevated inflation. Central Visayas recorded an 8.1% inflation rate in August, down from 8.7% in July, while its January-to-August average stood at 8.4%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
PM and Sentro also raised the difference between the new Central Visayas rate and the minimum wage in the National Capital Region, saying the regional wage-setting system has resulted in different wage floors for workers across the country.
The groups called for the abolition of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards and the replacement of the regional wage-setting system with a national minimum wage law.
They said a national wage standard would address what they described as persistent differences in pay between regions and prevent workers from having to wait for separate regional wage adjustments.
The groups also called for the immediate passage of a P200 legislated wage increase for private-sector workers nationwide, saying this would provide greater relief from the erosion of real wages caused by rising prices.
“The ₱42 wage increase is not enough. It does not adequately compensate for inflation, it does not reverse years of wage erosion, and it does not address the widening disparity between Central Visayas and NCR,” the groups said.
The P42 wage increase will cover private-sector workers in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor. The wage order is expected to benefit 337,476 workers in the region.
The groups said the issue should also be considered in terms of workers’ ability to meet their basic needs, rather than solely in terms of employers’ capacity to absorb higher labor costs.
They maintained that workers outside Metro Manila should not receive lower wages simply because of their location and called for what they described as living wages that keep pace with the cost of living.
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