Incoming legislators urged to work on living wage
By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter
NEWLY ELECTED legislators need to work on measures that ensure a living wage and security of tenure, labor analysts said.
Benjamin B. Velasco, assistant professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said members of the 20th Congress need to respond to the labor market’s wish list.
“Surveys before and during the elections consistently reveal two burning demands. One is wages and prices, another is jobs and livelihoods,” Mr. Velasco told BusinessWorld via Messenger.
The Philippines elected 12 new Senators in the 24-seat Senate and hundreds of new members of the 315-seat House of Representatives on Monday. They are set to take office in July, when the 20th Congress officially begins.
Mr. Velasco said legislators need to ditch the regional wage system and set national minimum wage.
He cited “the Constitutional mandate for a living wage rather than confusing and contradictory 10-point criteria of the existing Wage Rationalization Act.”
Federation of Free Workers President Jose G. Matula called for wages sufficient to sustain families.
“This is the first step toward establishing a National Living Wage and moving away from the outdated and fragmented regional wage system under Republic Act (RA) 6727, which has institutionalized wage inequality across the country,” Mr. Matula said via Viber.
RA 6727, or the Wage Rationalization Act, tasks Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards to determine wage levels in their respective jurisdictions.
In his Labor Day address, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. supported regional wage increases instead of a legislated wage hike, citing the potential impact of a uniform national wage on businesses, jobs, and the economy.
Labor groups have argued that a legislated wage hike is needed to help workers deal with rising costs. Wage hike bills have stalled in Congress.
Last year, the Senate approved a bill for a P100 daily wage increase for all minimum wage earners in the private sector, regardless of region or industry.
On the other hand, the House of Representatives, in January, endorsed a consolidated bill proposing a P200 across-the-board daily wage increase for private sector workers.
Mr. Matula urged the 20th Congress to ban contractualization both in the private and public sectors, ensuring workers have regular and permanent employment status.
“Workers in government also deserve security of tenure, just like those in the private sector. Labor-only contracting, contracts of service, job orders, and agency work should no longer be the norm,” he added.
UP’s Mr. Velasco said that a law on security of tenure needs to regulate all forms of contractual employment and make regular work the norm instead of the exception.
In contractual schemes, employment is terminated before six months, the period which by law triggers regular employee status.
Mr. Matula said that the government should allocate P100 billion to fund micro, small, and medium enterprises in rural areas to support employment.
“Supporting small businesses is key to generating sustainable and decent employment across the regions,” he added.
