The National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry in the Philippines-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said the P50  across-the-board wage increase it is seeking in Western Visayas is reasonable and proper with the present condition of the workers in the region.

In their position paper submitted at the wage consultation in Bacolod City on Wednesday, the NACUSIP-TUCP said the amount is needed by all workers receiving not only minimum wage, but also by those getting higher than the minimum wage, all of whom are equally disadvantaged by the price-wage development.

NACUSIP-TUCP is the petitioner of the P50 wage increase being tackled by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board 6. The group filed the petition last April 2.

The group also said the increase of P13 to P41 mandated by Wage Order No. 15 last year has already been overtaken by supervening conditions brought about by the rapid increases in the prices of fuel, basic services and prime commodities such as rice, canned goods, fish and meat.

Evidently, the purchasing power of the workers in Region 6 is lost by about 1.05 times because of the said supervening conditions, NACUSIP-TUCP said.   

Under the Wage Order No. 15, which increased daily minimum wages in Western Visayas in October last year by P13 to P41, workers in the region now receive P193 to P235 a day based on a simplified rate scheme, the group said.

Those receiving P235 are workers in the industrial or commercial sector whose establishments employ more than 10 workers while those being paid P203 are from commercial establishments employing 10 or less workers, it added.

Workers in the non-plantation or plantation sector are now getting P193 a day.

The NACUSIP-TUCP said they are actually “kind enough to demand a P50 per day increase”  instead of asking for the purchasing power lost by the workers in Region 6, which should be equivalent to an increase of P93, P125, and P135, for every sector,s respectively.*NLG

back to top