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BACOLOD CITY: Instead of a wage increase, the Western
Visayas Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board granted a
P15 Emergency Relief Assistance for minimum wage earners.
Labor representatives decried the
decision as “degrading to workers.”
Labor Regional Director Aida
Estabillo said the allowance will be imposed for five months and
will take effect on June 15 to October 15 of this year. She said
their decision was based on supervening conditions such as price
hike of oil and basic commodities in the region.
Estabillo said this decision was
also based on the premise that an earlier wage increase order No. 15
has not been fully implemented yet, adding that come October, the
wage board can discuss again another wage hike if warranted.
The last wage order upped the
minimum wage in the region between P193 and P235, or a wage hike of
P13 to P41 that took effect October last year.
Labor representatives however
refused to sign the new order, adding they will register their
opposition.
“I cannot take the P15 as a
matter of conscience. We manifest that we are not part of the
decision because it degrades the workers,” Winnie Sancho said.
Management representatives
however welcomed the outcome, saying they agree that the amount is
fair enough and affordable for their group.
--Ma. Ester L. Espina
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