LABOR SECRETARY Silvestre H. Bello III said plans to petition for a national wage hike will run counter to the law, which allows only one wage adjustment a year.
“Under the law, wage adjustments comes only once a year but there is an exception in case there is supervening event,” Mr. Bello told reporters in briefing on Tuesday.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) President and TUCP Party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza said in a statement on Tuesday that the organization will file for a wage hike petition of P313-355 covering all regions.
The labor group said the wage hike is due to supervening conditions such as high prices of goods which still affect millions of minimum wage earners.
“We will be citing supervening conditions in filing the petitions. We are also going to test once again the capacity of the wage boards to remain relevant with their mandate to raise the minimum wage to an amount that can ably support a family,” the congressman said.
The P313 to 355 range is based on TUCP’s calculations incorporating the prices of commodities and services and the wages needed to cover such basic needs. As of 2018, wage increases have ranged from P8.50 to P56, depending on the region.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bello said that later this month, the department will release a plan on how to handle wage-related matters within all branches of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) nationwide.
“Jan. 24, we’ll be having a DoLE-wide (and) corporate plan on how to address wage adjustment,” he said.
Last month, DoLE said it is planning a study on the effectiveness of the current wage setting system in the Philippines, engaging a third party to conduct the study. — Gillian M. Cortez
