Tag Archives: Minimum wage

[Press Release] Aquino’s labor policy failed to resolve job crisis, poverty wages – CTUHR

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Aquino’s labor policy failed to resolve job crisis, poverty wages — CTUHR

Photo grabbed from CTUHR.org

Photo grabbed from CTUHR.org

On this year’s International Labor Day, Labor NGO Center for Trade Union and Human Rights said that the Aquino government’s labor policy and strategy of employment facilitation, labor export and flexibilization failed to resolve job crisis and dragged worker wages to lower levels.

CTUHR logo

“The Aquino administration hardly acknowledged there is a job crisis and jobless growth. Instead they insist on job mismatch and try to resolve unemployment by facilitating employment through job fairs during labor days and by promoting labor export. But after almost five years of implementing (Philippine Labor and Employment Program) PLEP through employment facilitation and labor flexibility, joblessness and near-joblessness remain widespread despite the steady growth in the economy,” Daisy Arago, Executive Director of CTUHR said.

The group emphasized that even as the recent survey of SWS showed that the number of unemployed decreased by over 3 million, unemployment rate in the country is still very high compared to neighboring countries.

On April 30, Social Weather Station latest survey reported a big dip in unemployment rate from 27 percent to 19.1 percent slashing the number of unemployed by more than 3 million. Government statistics has a more conservative estimate with unemployment rate at 6.8 percent. This however, is still significantly higher compared to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore whose unemployment rates are at 2.7 percent, 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.
The group also noted that based on Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics review of 2014, majority of the 1 million jobs generated last year were part time employment while seven out of 10 of these new jobs employed either own-account (self-employed) or unpaid family workers.

“Absence of decent jobs in our country has driven many Filipinos abroad in search of jobs and not few them fall prey to human traffickers or abusive employers. This has been well-highlighted by the case of Mary Jane Veloso, who was victimized by drug traffickers in her desperate search for employment in another country,” Arago said.

The group also said the regionalized wage system combined with the two-tier wage system (TTWS) introduced by the DOLE in 2012 is dragging down and will continue to drag wage rates to poverty levels. “The minimum wage in Metro Manila is only 45 percent of the family living wage. Wages have increased nominally with very little, token hikes in the past; real wages are actually decreasing by as much as 21 percent in Eastern Visayas and other regions. When before, minimum wage is based on the right to afford a decent living, the floor wage introduced by the TTWS is based on the poverty threshold,” Arago added.

The group said that the government should do more than just act like a manpower agency if it wants to resolve unemployment. “The absence of decent jobs is rooted to the government’s neoliberal paradigm of supplying only cheap and flexible labor and depending on volatile foreign investments. The government should promote a strong and sustainable local industry if it really wants to deliver decent jobs and living wages to its people,” Arago said.
For reference: Jane Siwa, CTUHR Public Information and Education, +63917.4682829

RELEASE
1 May 2015

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[Statement] Human Labor – Not a Commodity! -VISAYAS CLERGY DISCERNMENT GROUP

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VISAYAS CLERGY DISCERNMENT GROUP

Human Labor – Not a Commodity!

Statement for Labor Day 2015
April 29, 2015

Bp Gerardo Alminaza croppedBishop Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D.
Bishop of San Carlos
Head Convenor, Visayas Clergy Discernment Group

Pope Francis, in his homily on the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker on May 2013, reminded us, that a society that does not fairly compensate labor, “that does not give work to people and that only looks to its balance books; that only seeks profit is unjust and goes against God.”

Over the years, we have been presenting the Church teachings on labor. We have also
presented on-going analyses of the social situation that affects labor adversely. Perhaps, it
is now time to be PRO-ACTIVE and make CONCRETE PROPOSALS. Moreover, there is a need to
strengthen ORGANIZED LABOR and SUPPORT GROUPS both local and international.

We have elucidated ad nauseam the Church teaching that labor is NOT A COMMODITY.
However, the reality is that CAPITAL still lists labor as one of the OVERHEAD EXPENSES.
When we negotiate for a flat-rate minimum wage, we are still working within the same
INHUMAN PARADIGM of capital that looks on wages as one of the many overhead expenses.

We must get out of the present inhuman box. We must assert that labor is a HUMAN
PARTNER of CAPITAL. Without it, capital cannot produce. In fact, capital was, in the first
place, produced by labor.

In view of the above NEW VIEWPOINT and NEW PARADIGM, we suggest that labor will no
longer be included in the list of overhead expenses. Rather, when the NET PROFIT is in
place, there will be an EQUITABLE division of the collective fruit of the collaboration of
labor and capital. In the existing paradigm, the surplus value of labor goes EXCLUSIVELY to
capital, and labor is just given a pittance. Now is the time to assert that, without labor AND
capital operating TOGETHER, there cannot be profit. So, some kind of PROFIT SHARING is
proposed here.

The above proposal will debunk the claim of some capitalists that high wages will not make
their business profitable. In view of this, the government has exempted some “distressed”
and small businesses from giving the minimum wage. This is not working! Concomitantly,
any UNIFORM and ACROSS THE BOARD setting of a minimum wage will face the unequal
capacity of small and big capitalists.

The Church social encyclical Mater et Magistra exhorted that remuneration of labor “must be determined in accordance with justice and equity” (MM, 71). This means that workers must be compensated according to the fruits of their labor, which “allow them to live a truly human life.”

Another factor is the fear that FOREIGN INVESTMENTS might not come in if wages are too high. The STATUS QUO is that the government has an UNWRITTEN COME-ON TO FOREIGN INVESTORS, “There is more fun and PROFIT in the Philippines because labor is CHEAP and UNORGANIZED!” If labor is A NECESSARY PARTNER in the negotiations of how much foreign capital will share from the net profit, reasonable foreign investors might see a different picture.

There must be a STRATEGIC and COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OF ACTION in view of the above NEW VIEWPOINT and NEW PARADIGM. We suggest that a people’s conference will craft a
proposed LAW embodying the above NEW VIEWPOINT and NEW PARADIGM. Our chances of getting a law passed according to the spirit of the new paradigm are rather slim. But, we
use this opportunity to EDUCATE the people through public debate and education program on our proposed law.

The ULTIMATE PURPOSE is to strengthen labor union organizing. This will include a thorough analysis of the EXTERNAL and INTERNAL FACTORS that hinder and promote genuine labor unions.

Pope Francis said that trade unions are essential for social change. Earlier, St. John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens has supported the right of workers to form labor unions in order to safeguard their vital interests.

WE GO BACK TO THE BASIC PRINCIPLE – GENUINE CHANGE CANNOT COME FROM ABOVE (e.g. a new law); IT CAN ONLY COME FROM BELOW, LED BY THE VANGUARD WORKERS WHO ARE ORGANIZED INTO STRONG LABOR UNIONS; with the support of other sympathetic sectors of society.

On Labor Day, we are one with workers and all people of goodwill in the call, “PEOPLE OVER PROFIT!”

Sicut Christus vivit,

+ Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D.
Bishop of San Carlos
Head Convenor
Visayas Clergy Discernment Group
visayasclergydiscernment@yahoo.com

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[Press Release] Labor group decries P15 wage hike insulting, divisive to workers -CTUHR

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Labor group decries P15 wage hike insulting, divisive to workers

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) decried the Php 15 increase daily for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila saying that the amount is just enough to buy three small sized eggs in public market and barely enough to buy half kilo rice.

CTUHR logo

“It is very insulting that the wage hikes the Aquino government can grant to the workers are just enough for a pack of instant noodles and eggs. It is apparent that the government benchmark for improving workers’ lives is giving them coins for these two commonly affordable so-called food. The last time, the regional wage board approved only a P10 wage increase and that was on September 2013 implemented only on January 2014, ” Daisy Arago, CTUHR Executive Director said.

On March 18, the DOLE announced, that the Tripartite Regional Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB-NCR)  issued Wage Oder No 19  approving a P15 wage hike for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila effective April.

DOLE noted that the decision was prompted by erosion of minimum wage, inflation rate, and capacity of employers and it has to do hard balancing between the workers needs and employers. It is a compromise, according to Malacanang.

The group however noted that in the 26 years of regionalized wage fixing, the government only exposed that there is in fact no ‘balancing’ between workers’ needs and employers’ interests. “It is always a one-sided compromise.  There was no time when the workers were somehow happy precisely because in every wage order issued, workers only get crumbs from the table of the rich whose profits had swollen increasing by almost 100 percent from 2009 to 2013, further widening the gap between the rich and the poor,” Arago explained.

The group also underlined that not only the amount is so revolting as trade unions centers had felt, it is also discriminatory as only 12% of workers in Metro Manila will benefit from it when in fact rising prices, transportations fares, services had affected every working people without discrimination.

“Employers are simply advised to revisit their pay structure for possible wage distortion, which is no guarantee that workers receiving a little over minimum wage can get a pay rise. Afterall,  DOLE said, the recent Wage Order is not mandatory for non-minimum wage earner,” Arago said.

The group also lambasted the divisive nature of the wage order and the regional wage system, “Even with this so measly amount, minimum wage earners in Metro Manila seem to be better off with their co-workers in the provinces whose wages are far below, that DOLE admitted to be below poverty threshold,” Arago said.

The group raised that Wage Order # 19 came as a little surprising, if not suspicious as to timing not because workers are not demanding and expecting substantial wage hike which is their right, but it came just in time when President Aquino’s popularity is sliding and workers are warming up in pushing for a national minimum wage of P16,000 per month.

“Whether or not the issuance was meant to temper the seething workers and public discontent over the current administration, we believe that there can be no acceptable justification for P15 wage hike in a time when the workers stomachs are grumbling from hunger and lack of nutrition. Similarly, it also calls an end to economic inequalities amongst workers perpetuated by regionalized wage fixing, as it is not only discriminatory and divisive, but it exposed them further to abuses and rights violations by taking advantage of their cheap labor,” Arago said.###

For reference: Daisy Arago, CTUHR Executive Director, +632.411.0256, +63916.248.4876

RELEASE
23 March 2015

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[Press Release] PM slams P10 wage hike as a “cruel Napoles joke”

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Group slams P10 wage hike as a “cruel Napoles joke”

pmLogo1

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) slammed the P10 wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR) as a “cruel Napoles joke” inflicted on the workers. “Janet Napoles steals P10 billion from the people’s money and the government offers P10 in coins to workers as a consolation. While the people’s attention is focused on the billion peso pork barrel scam, the wage board thinks it can quietly dupe workers with a measly pay increase,” insisted Wilson Fortaleza, PM’s spokesperson.

Meanwhile PM called on the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) which had filed a P83 across-the-board wage petition to coordinate with other labor groups to protest the NCR wage board’s decision and launch a joint campaign for a living wage. “The TUCP’s rejection of the wage board’s decision is a good initial move. The next step should be to complement the TUCP’s appeal to the wage board with a call on workers to hold mass actions. If the middle class finds it necessary to call a Million People March for the abolition of the pork barrel, it is imperative on the working class to launch a mass movement to end the cheap labor policy,” Fortaleza argued.

He added that the P10 wage hike is a “dagdag-bawi scam.” “Government decides to give workers a P10 hike in wages but it will take it back with the proposed P10 increase in fares for the MRT and LRT. Further, prices of basic goods like rice have inflated so that in the end, workers are worse off than before,” Fortaleza explained.

“PM’s own study reveals that the cost of living in the NCR is already P1,200 as of April this year for a family of six and yet the new minimum wage adds up to only P466, which will not even buy half of the basket of goods and services,” Fortaleza said.

He continued that “This is the ugly reality of inequality in our country. The Philippines is the fastest growing economy in Asia yet only a few, the capitalist class, is benefiting from the increased wealth created by the working people. The assets of the ten richest Filipinos amount to some US$45 billion, which is equivalent to the yearly wages of 20 million minimum wage earners.”

PM contends that the wage boards have outlived their usefulness and should be replaced by a Wage Commission. Fortaleza stated that “The mandate of the National Wage Commission will be to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. This is different from the wage boards which are bogged down by convoluted and contradictory 10-point criteria in fixing wages. The Wage Commission should raise the minimum wage to the level of the living wage by a mix of mechanisms such as direct pay increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers.”

Press Release
September 7, 2013

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[In the news] House OKs ‘Kasambahay’ bill -RAPPLER.com

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House OKs ‘Kasambahay’ bill.

BY RAPPLER.COM
September 5, 2012

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives on Wednesday, September 5, passed on 3rd and final reading House Bill 6144 or the proposed Domestic Workers‘ Act. It is more popularly known as the “Kasambahay” bill.

The bill seeks to set new labor standards for domestic helpers. It provides them with a package of benefits including increases in minimum wages and other regular employment benefits including 13th month pay, 14-day paid vacation, and maternity or paternity leave.

“It’s a landmark legislation of the 15th Congress,” said San Juan Rep JV Ejercito, among the main proponents of the bill in the House of Representatives.

Read full article @ www.rappler.com

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[Blog] Why Higher Wages Make Economic Sense -politicsforbreakfast.blogspot.com

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Why Higher Wages Make Economic Sense
MAY 15, 2012

Last May 1, the usual arguments of the business sector were unleashed with its central theme: No, business cannot afford wage hike. Beset with high cost and poor business climate, business simply cannot survive added cost of labor. How do we attract investments if we increase wages? Look at China and Vietnam. Didn’t they have a cheap labor policy? Aren’t they getting much more investments than us due to lower minimum wages?

As if the anti-wage-hike position isn’t entrenched enough, an army of economists follows with a recital of the dogma of “labor flexibility”. They say, wage level should be equal to the so-called “marginal productivity of labor” – which is economese for whatever the employer wants to pay them. Labor is supposedly not exempt from the law of supply and demand. Raising minimum wage will only increase unemployment, as it supposedly disallows all voluntary labor wage contracts that pay below the minimum wage. It will also introduce inefficiency in the labor markets, now faced with a “deadweight loss” due to the intervention of the government who will always fail to set prices right.

But why, if they are right, aren’t we attracting investments still? What explains Philippine firms’ low level of competitiveness? Why does unemployment remain high? The response has always been, never mind the workers, that it is not enough. Lower wages a bit more, then we’ll get the investments that would have gone to China. Lax regulations a bit more, and we’ll have more productive factories and viable businesses. Dismantle a little bit more unions, and businesses will be more efficient and will eventually increase their wages in the long-run.

Read full article @ politicsforbreakfast.blogspot.com

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Price hikes erode minimum wage increases in NCR – IBON News

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Price hikes erode minimum wage increases in NCR – IBON News.

IBON NEWS
April 19, 2012

Despite seven wage hikes since 2002, the real value of the mandated NCR minimum wage has fallen by some 3.5% from that peak in February 2002 to be worth just Php246 as of December 2011.

For reference: Mr Sonny Africa (IBON executive director) 0928-5053550 | As labor groups file petitions for a substantial wage increase, a study by research group IBON reveals that increases in the mandated minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation in the last decade.

Taking inflation into account, the highest real mandated minimum wage since 1986 in the National Capital Region (NCR) was the Php255 reached in February 2002 (measured in 2000 prices).

Despite seven wage hikes since 2002, the real value of the mandated NCR minimum wage has fallen by some 3.5% from that peak in February 2002 to be worth just Php246 as of December 2011.

Read full article @ ibon.org

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[In the news] Don’t push workers against wall, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines tells Malacañang | Sun.Star

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Don’t push workers against wall, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines tells Malacañang | Sun.Star.

March 11, 2012

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urged Sunday the national government not to push the workers against the wall amid the rise in prices of basic commodities.

In a phone interview, TUCP president Democrito Mendoza scored Malacañang for immediately discounting the possibility of having a salary adjustment granted amid their announcement of a plan to file wage hike petitions.

“Malacañang should protect the interest of workers and their families not push them against the wall,” said Mendoza.

If it continues to do so, the labor leader said they may have no other recourse but to instigate protest actions.

“If workers’ needs are not met now, workers will have no recourse but to seek redress on the streets,” said Mendoza.

On Saturday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte stressed that it would be impossible to implement wage hikes since there is a one-year ban in between adjustments of minimum salary rates.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

[From the web] Solon seeks salary adjustment for factory and office workers

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Solon seeks salary adjustment for factory and office workers
by House of Representatives of the Philippines

Workers in factories and offices could soon get higher pay and additional benefits under a bill adjusting their salaries and upgrading their working conditions.

Rep. Catalina Cabrera Bagasina (Party-list, ALE), author of House Bill 5324, said the bill seeks to increase the workers overtime pay, premium pay, holiday pay and maternity leave benefits.

The bill seeks to amend Book III of Presidential Decree 442, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.

“It is deemed proper to adjust the remuneration of laborers and employees due to the rising prices of basic commodities and increasing rate of living standards,” Bagasina said.

Under this measure, workers in the factories and offices shall be given the option to work full time or part time.

The bill provides that a night shift differential shall be paid, from 10 to 30 percent of the regular wage for each hour worked between eight o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning.

Overtime work beyond eight hours a day shall be paid equivalent to their regular wage plus an additional 30 percent of his or her regular wage.

Read full article @ www.facebook.com

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[Press Release] Three days before SONA, Cebu workers urge PNoy to prioritize wage hike legislation – CTUHR

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A few days before SONA, workers from Cebu intensified its call for a legislated P125 wage hike and urged the Aquino administration to make it a priority bill.

Myrna Berdin, coordinator of Unity for Workers Rights (U4), an alliance of workers inside the Mactan Export Processing Zone in Cebu, said that the legislation for a P125 wage increase is needed because of soaring prices and so that all workers across all the regions can benefit from the wage hike.

“We urge the Aquino administration this coming SONA to advise the Congress to pass the bill that will provide a P125 across the board wage hike to the Filipino workers. This is very much needed by workers all over the country especially because wage hikes have become very difficult to pass with the regional wage boards.”

“In Region 6 for example, the workers’ petition for wage hike was rejected by the regional wage board. They insist that there is no ‘supervening  event’ and ruled no wage hike can be approved until September this year. But we, the workers, feel the burden everyday with the prices [of basic commodities] going up. Oil prices are in fact more expensive here in Cebu than in Metro Manila. The minimum fare has increased from P6.50 to P7.50. We can no longer buy a kilo of rice that is worth P30 or less. The increasing prices of basic commodities are burning holes in our pockets. ”

Cebu workers only receive P235-277 as daily minimum wage in non-agricultural sectors. Agricultural workers  are entitled to a P235-245 minimum pay.

United in P125

Center for Trade Union and Human Rights documentation coordinator Armand Hernando noted that the campaign for the legislation of a P125 wage hike is united call of the workers all over the country against the exploitative regionalized wage system.

“The regional wage system has diffused and divided the workers struggle to attain significant wage hikes. It has also aggravated the exploitation of Filipino laborers. While some regions can get an increase at one time, some regions don’t. And while the highest minimum wage is only P426 in the NCR, the lowest is way lower at P222 at the ARMM.  The call to legislate the P125 across the board wage hike is a united resistance not just against the very low wages per se but also against the ill system of regionalizing wages.”

“Especially at a time when the number of workers who can negotiate their wages through collective bargaining is nearly insignificant, a legislated wage hike will be an effective means of giving the workers immediate relief from the spiraling cost of living,” he added.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

for reference: Armand Hernando, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights Documentation Coordinator, 09228216283

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[In the news] Central Luzon workers to get P14 hike in living allowances- INQUIRER.net

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Central Luzon workers to get P14 hike in living allowances.

By Philip C. Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Workers in Central Luzon have been given a P14-increase in their daily cost-of-living allowance (COLA), acting Labor Secretary Danilo Cruz said on Monday in Manila.

Cruz said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) approved Wage Order No. RB III-16 in granting the COLA increase to all minimum-wage workers in the private sector.

The board “deemed it necessary to provide workers immediate relief from the rising costs of living, taking into account the interests of both labor and management, as well as the continued sustainability of business and industry,” he said.

Workers of non-agricultural establishments with total assets of at least P30 million in Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales would receive P330 per day, Cruz said in a statement.

“Workers in the establishments with a total assets of less than P30 million shall receive P322.50 per day,” he added.

For agriculture workers in the region, except in Aurora, the minimum wage rates would be P300 for plantation workers and P284 for non-plantation workers.

For workers in retail/service establishments with 16 or more workers, the new minimum wage rates will be P319 while those with less than 16 workers will receive P305 per day. Cottage or handicraft workers would receive P284 per day, Cruz said.

In Aurora, minimum wage earners in the non-agricultural sector shall receive a new daily rate of P279, while those in the agricultural sector will receive P264 for plantation workers and P244 for non-plantation workers.

Cruz said retail/service establishments in Aurora with no more than 10 workers would receive P201 per day, while cottage or handicraft workers would receive P252 per day.

Prior to its issuance of the new wage order, RTWPB III declared the existence of a supervening condition on May 9, 2011 because of extraordinary increases in prices of petroleum products, transport fees, and basic goods and services, Cruz said.

“The Regional Board exercised its wage fixing function even if the previous wage order, which was issued on November 22, 2010 has not yet expired,” he added.

Cruz said that the COLA granted under Wage Order No. RB III-16 would be included in the computation of private sector workers’ five days service incentive leave, vacation leave, sick leave, paternity and maternity leaves, and leaves under Republic Act 9262, or the Victims of Violance against Women and their Children Act.

He added that the COLA would also be computed in the payment for 12 national holidays and three special holidays. It is also included in the determination of the premium payments for Social Security System (SSS), Pag-Ibig housing, separation, and retirement pays.

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[Press release] P22 COLA is bad not good news – Partido ng Manggagawa

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partidongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) criticized the P22 cost of living allowance (COLA) approved by the NRC wage board as “bad news instead of the good news promised by PNoy.” Renato Magtubo, PM national chair said that “Like in the Philippine Airlines dispute, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is again the bearer of bad news. Nonetheless PNoy is to squarely blame. Instead of appealing to employers, he should have told the three government representatives in the wage board to push for a wage hike not a COLA. This will set a trend for the rest of the wage boards which will probably also grant a COLA instead of a wage hike”

This morning PM picketed the Department of Labor and Employment in protest at the wage board decision. The group called for the abolition of the regional wage boards and their replacement by a National Wage Commission.

“The government representatives in the wage board heard not PNoy’s call for a wage hike but the employers’ plea for cheap labor. Once more the wage boards have betrayed the workers. The P22 COLA is symbolic of the wage boards’ 22-years of service to the capitalists rather than the workers,” Magtubo insisted.

“The COLA is a misnomer since it is supposed to bridge the gap between the take home pay and the cost of living. But the cost of living in the NCR is already P1,010 as of March for a family of six and yet the minimum wage plus COLA adds up to only P426, which is will not even buy half of the basket of goods and services,” Magtubo explained.

He added that “PNoy should have put teeth to his talk. All PNoy had to do was declare an amount for the wage hike and order the three government representatives in the wage board to push for it. But instead of marching orders to the government representatives in the wage boards, he was content with a futile appeal to the capitalists.”

He explained that in every wage board, the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment chairs while two more government representatives come from the Department of Trade and Industry and the National Economic Development Authority. Two representatives each from the workers and employers complete the seven-person wage board.

Magtubo argued that the wage boards have outlived their usefulness and should be replaced by a Wage Commission. He stated that “The mandate of the National Wage Commission will be to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. This is different from the wage boards which are bogged down by convoluted and contradictory 10-point criteria in fixing wages. The Wage Commission should raise the minimum wage to the level of the living wage by a mix of mechanisms such as direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers.”

Press Release
May 10, 2011
Partido ng Manggagawa
Contact Renato Magtubo @ 09178532905

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[In the news] More groups junk P13 wage hike offer | Sun.Star

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More groups junk P13 wage hike offer | Sun.Star.

Leody De Guzman, file photo source: flickr.com

MANILA — Militant labor groups on Friday assailed what they saw as connivance of the government and the business sector against a “fair” wage increase.

“They harp the same old classic blackmail against wage increase; that it is inflationary, that it will cause retrenchments, and that it will spell apocalypse,” Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) president Leody de Guzman said.

Post your prayers and condolences for Cebu Vice Governor Greg Sanchez’s family.

De Guzman’s was reacting to Bangko Sentral Governor Amado Tetangco’s warning that an increase higher than P25 is inflationary and will affect the country’s economic performance in the long term.

Compounding the labor group’s ire was Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) president Edgardo Lacson’s assertion last Wednesday that they could only afford an additional P13.35 for workers’ salaries.

Read full article @ Sunstar.com.ph

[Press Release] PM says workers owed P50 in lost purchasing power, unpaid productivity share

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Renato Magtubo. File photo source: flickr.com

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) stated that employers owed workers at least P50 due to lost purchasing power and unpaid share in increased productivity in reaction to the announcement by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines that it can only afford P13 for the wage hike. “Capitalists are again trying to shortchange workers. Despite the minimum wage increases granted, workers still have P25 to regain in depleted purchasing power since year 2000 and another P25 to get as their share in improved productivity since last year,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

He also added that “Workers are not children that can be pacified with candy. P13 is mere change thrown in the way of workers.”

PM is asking the NCR wage board to grant the P75 wage petition as immediate relief for the workers. The group also estimates that the cost of living for a family of six in Metro Manila is P1,010 per day as per its study.

Magtubo lambasted the employers for threatening layoffs and closures should the P75 petition be approved. “Capitalists are wolves in sheep’s clothing, claiming a desire to save the economy from the catastrophe of a wage hike when in fact they are just out to protect their profits from the workers’ claim to the fruits of our labor,” he insisted.

Magtubo countered the ECOP’s dire impact of the P75 wage hike. “To illustrate, a gas station owner with 10 gas attendants will fork out only P750 more in wages per day, equivalent to the cost of five cups of gourmet coffee. It will hardly dent the lifestyle of even a small capitalist but it will go a long way to feed, house, heal and school a worker’s family,” he elaborated.

PM arrived at its estimate of P25 in lost purchasing power using the 171.5 consumer price index (CPI) as of April 2011 according to the National Statistics Office. The base figure of CPI in year 2000 was 100 and the minimum wage in that year was P250.

P25 = [ P250 X (171.5 -100) / 100 ] – ( P404 – P250 )

It also arrived at the estimate of P25 in unpaid productivity share using the 2010 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of P2.43 trillion, the annual increase in GDP of 7.3% and the total number of wage and salaried workers of 19.3 million. The improved productivity created by workers is simply the increased wealth and is computed as 7.3% of P2.43 trillion. The workers share in that greater wealth is simply estimated by dividing by the number of wage and salaried employees and the 365 number of days in a year.

P25 = ( P2.43 trillion X 7.3% ) / (19.3 million X 365 ) ###

Press Release
May 5, 2011
Partido ng Manggagawa
Contact Renato Magtubo @ 09178532905

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[In the news] Labor groups insist on wage hike demands | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

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Labor groups insist on wage hike demands | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features.

MANILA, Philippines – Worker demonstrations are picking up as the wage board in Metro Manila reviews their petitions for a minimum wage increase.

One group, the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), stormed the office of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) along Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City on Wednesday, demanding for as much as P125 salary hike.

Bayan said this would help consumers cope with rising prices of fuel and other basic goods, as well as transportation costs and utilities.

Read full article @ ABS-CBNnews.com (link above)

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[Press Release] PM calls on wage board to grant wage petition as cost of living already above P1,000/day

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May 1 PM by Jillian Roque

May 1 2011. Photo by Jillian Roque

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Metro Manila regional wage board to grant the P75 wage hike petition as it convened for its first public hearing today. “We ask the wage board to break expectations and approve the P75 petition since our study reveals that the cost of living for a family of six in Metro Manila as of March this year is already P1,010 a day,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.

Magtubo meanwhile criticized President Benigno Aquino III for Labor Day announcement yesterday. “Private sector workers got nada from PNoy. PNoy did not really break bread with labor but he broke tradition by giving nothing to workers, not even a consuelo de bobo of non-wage benefits,” he stated.

“Even if NCR wage board approves the P75 petition, it will not be enough to bridge the huge gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living. The disparity between the P404 minimum wage and the cost of living is P606 or 150% of the ordinary wage. Even if two members work—which is the buy one, take one policy of the government—then their combined income will not be enough to feed the entire family,” stated Magtubo.

PM arrived at its cost of living figure using its April 2010 survey of the daily cost of living and the National Statistics Office’s 2.6% estimate of the inflation rate from April 2010 to March 2011. “Our estimate is already an understatement since the rise in prices has been accelerating since March,” Magtubo clarified.

Beyond the immediate wage hike issue, the group is however pushing for an overhaul of the wage fixing system in the country. PM is advocating for the establishment of a National Wage Commission to replace the regional wage boards.

“The National Wage Commission will be different from the wage boards in that its mandate is to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living. And despite the huge difference between the minimum wage and the cost of living, the National Wage Commission can bridge the gap by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts and social security subsidies for workers,” Magtubo explained.

He added that “This is a reform that is addressed to Congress. The regional wage system is a 22-year old structure that badly needs fixing. It has disadvantaged workers and fostered cheap labor in the country.”

Press Release
May 2, 2011
Partido ng Manggagawa
Contact Renato Magtubo @ 09178532905

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[From the web] Militant workers demand P125 wage hike on Labor Day – ph.news.yahoo.com

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By Marjorie Gorospe
Source: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/

Members of militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) held a rally in Mendiola Bridge urging the Aquino administration to approve a P125 wage hike on Labor Day. Article & photo by http://loqal.ph/

MANILA CITY, METRO MANILA—  Militant group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) held a rally in Mendiola on Thursday calling on a P125 minimum wage hike on Labor Day (May 1).

“For the longest time, past administrations of the country gave nothing but alms to our workers and right now, all we’re asking is the P125 wage increase,” said   KMU-National Capital Region chairperson Roy Velez.

“This increase will only be the good news we can consider, or they should just forget it,” said Velez, referring to an announcement by Malacañang that there will be “good news” for workers this Labor Day.

Read full article @ http://ph.news.yahoo.com/

[Press release] Labor party wonders why living wage figures remained at 2008 level – PM

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File photo source: PM

While prices of basic goods and services keep on rising, the government’s calculation of Family Living Wage (FLW) remained at 2008 level, provoking curiosity from the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

According to the group, the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) website contains all the necessary information on wages, except on FLW estimates which has never been updated since September 2008. The link to the site has been “under construction” since then.

“Was it arbitrary on the part of the government to put an embargo to this very important information?  If it cannot even update its figures how much more in complying with the Constitutional mandate of providing labor the right to a family living wage?,” lamented PM chair Renate Magtubo.

Living wage is defined as the amount of family income needed to provide for the family’s food and non-food expenditures, including a 10% proportion of “other components” to allow for savings.

The NWPC’s September 2008 figures put the FLW estimates in the National Capital Region (NCR) at P917 a day to as high as P1, 322 in the ARMM region. PM’s own estimate put it at P1, 000 in 2009.

Magtubo said the NWPC may have opted to “reconstruct the truth” to hide or mask the ever widening gap between real wage and the living wage.  NWPC calculated the real wage value of the P404 minimum wage in NCR at PhP239.76.  It cannot be compared to the current FLW since new numbers are missing.

“For this evidently clear act of omission labor has the right to call for NWPC’s abolition together with the equally hopeless regional wage boards,” argued Magtubo.

A regular and timely estimate of FLW is important since it shows the movement of a family’s current cost of living relative to its income thus must be principally considered in making wage adjustments.

In fact first on the list of the 10 criteria for the current minimum wage fixing is the workers’ demand for living wage which includes not only the right to recover the lost value of their wages but also improvement on their living standard.

“The truth is there is clearly a mismatch between the actual needs of workers and their level of income because the present system puts more weight on capitalist’s ‘capacity to pay’ rather than on labor’s ‘capacity to buy’,” explained Magtubo.

Magtubo said the country’s wage levels remain at “starvation level” since the PhP125 and PhP75 demand, even if granted, can only cover about half of a worker’s actual needs.

Aside from pressing for a wage increase, PM has also been proposing for the replacement of the current wage fixing mechanism by a new system that would institutionalize living wage as the principal criterion for determining the basic minimum wage.  It wants a new National Wage Commission mandated with this new framework take the place of the regional wage boards.

PRESS RELEASE
Partido ng Manggagawa
15 April 2011
Contact:  Renato Magtubo
@ 09178532905

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