THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has been working out the appropriate amount for a wage increase to be petitioned today, March 14, 2022, before the regional wage boards.
There will be hike petitions in other regions where no wage increase has been made during the last two to three and a half years.
The directive of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Boards (RTWPB) to review minimum wages in all 17 regions is welcome.
But it is hoped that is not just a mere ruse or strategy to defuse the growing tensions and the heightening unease of millions of Filipinos who are now struggling to survive.
We don’t need diversionary strategies from the government that will only raise false hopes or give workers loose change.
“Tama na ang kakapiranggot at barya-baryang binibigay”.
What we need now are REAL solutions.
The government must provide out-of-the-box solutions which will ease the burden of the skyrocketing prices of all goods and services impacting Filipino workers and their families.
Wages are now extremely inadequate. The government should be reminded that there have been no wage increases in the past two years, and in other regions, no wage hike has been granted at all in the past three years, even as the buying power of the Philippine peso has been significantly eroded in the face of inflation.
Now with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on its 14th day, this has further accelerated price increases of everything, including Juan de la Cruz’s pan de sal and instant noodles, the only food most workers can still afford.
This means that the 5 million minimum wage earners nationwide have now joined the growing ranks of poor Filipinos.
The reality is that cascading global events, from the pandemic to the Russian invasion, and their knockdown domestic effects, have now placed the cost of most basic goods and services beyond the reach of our workers.
It is anticipated the forthcoming increases as the price of imported coal has soared from $169 per ton at the end of 2021 to $395.00 per ton today, and the price of imported crude oil has now increased to $110 per barrel.
The specter has now been raised that the price of crude oil will further climb to $300 per barrel.
The worst is yet to come.
Since January 2021 the spiraling cost of petroleum has fueled the continuing spike in food and transport inflation. The unabated rise in the prices of Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene, LPG, electricity, and water will further batter worker families, who even before the Russian invasion, could barely cope as their lifelong meager savings were lost during the longest Covid-19 lockdown in the world.
It must be emphasized that significant wage adjustments should have been done as early as 2019, even before the pandemic. The petition last filed in the Regional Wage Boards for a daily wage increase, was a daily wage increase of anywhere from Php 600 to Php 900, depending on the region.
One of the petitioners, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, said petitions were premised on the need to provide at least a once-a-day nutritious meal for a family of five, based on the Pinggang Pinoy model of the Government. We all know, of course, that at this time the said amounts for all regions are already inadequate.
TUCP is studying the matter deeply given the gravity of the gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living confronting our workers. We trust that Government understands the urgency of the situation of our workers and will now look to the necessity of addressing the workers’ survival concerns during these dangerous and perilous times through genuine policy measures that bring down the cost of living and by providing a living wage – to save jobs and save lives.
