NCR workers get P35 wage bump

NCR workers get P35 wage bump

(UPDATES) SOME 1.1 million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila will get a P35 wage bump, bringing their daily take-home pay from P610 to P645.

The P35 hike was granted by the National Capital Region-Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, which issued Wage Order NCR-25, which also brought wages for agriculture sector workers and those in retail establishments employing 15 or fewer, and manufacturing establishments regularly employing fewer than 10 workers from P573 to P608.

The wage order takes effect July 17, which is exactly a day after the anniversary of the preceding wage order.

The wage board, composed of representatives from the government, management and labor sectors, conducted two consultations for workers and employers on May 23 and June 4, a public hearing on June 20 in Quezon City and a wage deliberation on June 27 in Manila.

The new rates, which translate to a 5.7-percent increase from the prevailing daily minimum wage rates in the region, remain above the latest regional poverty threshold for a family of five.

These will also result in a comparable 5-percent increase in wage-related benefits covering 13th month pay, service incentive leave and social security benefits such as SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.

The wage order is expected to directly benefit around 988,243 minimum wage earners in the NCR. About 1.7 million full-time wage and salary workers earning above the minimum wage may also indirectly benefit as a result of upward adjustments at the enterprise level arising from corrections for wage distortion.

Labor groups, however, criticized the P35 wage hike, saying that it was inadequate and vowed to pursue a legislated across-the-board increase of P150 a day.

The country's largest group of employers, on the other hand, welcomed the wage order, saying it offered a "balanced perspective" that covered the needs of all sectors.

The Metro Manila wage board is the first to order a new round of wage increases in compliance with the President's Labor Day address to initiate the timely review of regional minimum wage rates, within 60 days of the anniversary of their latest wage order.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said that 15 regional wage boards across the country have also been directed to firm up their schedule of consultations and hearings, consistent with the President's directive and with the implementing rules and regulations issued by the NWPC.

Before the President's order, all 16 RTWPBs (Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards) had issued wage orders to increase the minimum wage from P30 per day to P89 per day.

The last round of minimum wage increases took effect between July last year in the NCR and February this year in Region 11, or the Davao Region.

Within the 12-month period from effectivity of the wage order, no petition for wage increase may be entertained, except when there is a supervening condition, such as an extraordinary increase in prices of petroleum products and basic goods and services.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) and its allies in the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition on Tuesday called on Congress to enact the pending P150 legislated recovery wage bill, saying that the minimal adjustment falls far short of the necessary wage recovery and highlights the urgent need for a substantial national legislated wage hike.

"The P35 wage hike in Metro Manila is not only inadequate but also seems like a tactic to distract workers from their escalating push for a P150 daily wage increase through legislation," said FFW President Sonny Matula. "This highly insufficient increase, however, will only strengthen our resolve to pursue a legislated wage hike."

He added that while this increase applies solely to Metro Manila, workers in other regions continue to suffer under wages below the poverty threshold.

Philippine Statistics Authority data show on the average, a family of five members will need at least P13,797 per month to meet their minimum basic food and nonfood needs in the first semester of 2023.

"The current economic conditions demand a comprehensive solution that addresses the dire financial realities workers face nationwide," Matula said.

Currently, the minimum wage in Metro Manila is P610, and the proposed P150 increase would constitute about 24.59 percent (P150/P610) of this amount.

"This significant adjustment we ask from Congress is crucial to ensuring that all Filipino workers receive fair and just compensation, enabling them to meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life," Matula said.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), on the other hand, said the new wage increase balanced the needs of workers and employers.

"We welcome the announcement of the NCR tripartite wage board composed of employers, workers and the government on the new wage increase," ECOP Governor Arturo Guerrero III said, noting that employers supported a tripartite wage-setting mechanism rather than a legislated wage hike.

Guerrero said it was likely that other regions would also impose wage hikes following the approval for the NCR.

The ECOP official, meanwhile, noted that for employees receiving above the minimum wage, managers will need to implement the wage hike in their own respective companies.

He added that companies should evaluate and avoid any wage distortion.

ECOP Chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. earlier said that a reasonable increase for Metro Manila workers would be P15 per day.

He said that while the Philippines may have had the lowest minimum wages in the region some 15 years ago, "we have overtaken everybody because every year, we are raising [wages] through the tripartite votes."

"[The increases] may be small but consistent. We have overtaken all of our neighbors. Except last year, when Indonesia was slightly ahead of us," he added.

Also on Monday, labor groups renewed their call to the government to address the workers' continuing and long-standing concern of contractualization and the need to improve job security across the nation.

Matula said on Tuesday that they acknowledged that the government's 10-year employment program, which aims to generate millions of jobs, is good, but is still a work in progress.

"Our labor representatives who came from different regions of the country are of the opinion that this is a good initiative but the government must not only address unemployment and underemployment, but also contractualization, endo, 555 and other precarious jobs, particularly involving youth and women," Matula said.

Estimates show that in the private sector, more than 23 million workers are employed on a contractual basis, including "endo," "555" or those supplied by manpower agencies and cooperatives.

Matula emphasized the importance of a 10-year plan, a long-term strategy in creating stable employment opportunities and enhancing the overall economic well-being of Filipino workers.