A SENATOR has filed a bill seeking to amend the Labor Code to ensure minimum wage adjustments ensure a “living wage” for workers considering changes in the cost of living and the capacity to pay of employers.
“It is high time that the concept of living wage is clearly established,” Senator Lorna Regina “Loren” B. Legarda said in the explanatory note of Senate Bill 2662 filed on May 7.
Under the measure, the regional wage boards would be tasked to consider patterns of consumption and an “estimation of the needs” of workers and their families based on “evidence-based” methods and consultation with the Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) highlighted the importance of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) in implementing wage hikes, scheduling a round of consultations starting this month.
The DoLE said the National Capital Region RTWPB has set a round of public consultations with a target date on June 20. It will also be consulting with the labor sector on May 23, and the employers’ sector on June 4.
RTWPBs are to issue minimum wage increases after a year from the effectivity of the last wage increase in their region, which was in July 2023.
Last week, ex-Finance Undersecretary Cielo D. Magno said wage hikes are better in a regional setting as it considers the local contexts per region.
Ms. Legarda’s bill follows the same principle in determining a living wage. “In doing so, we uphold the right of workers to earn a living that would truly enable them to provide for the need of their families, determined through transparent and evidence-based methodologies and considering local socio-economic realities,” she said.
A Filipino family of five would need at least P13,797 a month or P460 a day to meet their basic needs, according to the local statistics agency.
Metro Manila’s daily minimum wage rose by P40 to P610 ($10.93) in June, much lower than the P570 increase sought by Unity for Wage Increase Now.
In February, the Senate passed a bill calling for a P100 across-the-board minimum wage increase for workers in the private sector, despite warnings that a hike too high could fan inflation.
At the House Representatives, separate bills that seek to increase wages of private sector workers by P150 to P750 have been filed, as well as another that mandates a P33,000-a-month entry wage for state workers. — John Victor D. Ordoñez and Chloe Mari A. Hufana
