LABOR Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz said the government will announce a new adjustment to the minimum wage of workers in Metro Manila, owing to the recent increases in commuter train systems’ fares and changes in prices of basic commodities.
Baldoz said the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the National Capital Region will meet with private sector groups and representatives of minimum-wage earners by end of January and early February, respectively, to tackle the minimum-wage adjustments.
In determining minimum wages, Baldoz said the regional wage boards consider the basic needs of workers and their families, such as food and nonfood commodities, including cost of transportation, particularly adjustments in public-utility vehicle (PUV) fares.
“Minimum wages are aimed to primarily protect poor and vulnerable workers from undue low wages,” Baldoz said in a news statement released over the weekend.
She said the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 recognizes the importance of the differences in the levels of living and socioeconomic development across regions, and the RTWPBs take these into account in setting minimum wages.
Baldoz added that minimum wages are based on the following indicators (1) most recent poverty income threshold for a family; (2) average wage as measure of employers’ capacity to pay; (3) socioeconomic conditions, such as the labor force, employment, unemployment, and underemployment; (4) business conditions, such as gross regional domestic product, trends and outlook of key industries in the region; (5) prices, such as the consumer price index, which is used to compute inflation rate; and (6) purchasing power of the peso. The Department of Labor and Employment, meanwhile, established the minimum-wage reform under the two-tier wage system.
The two-tier system aims to close the gap between the minimum wages and the poverty thresholds in the country’s 16 regions. Baldoz said the regional wage board in the NCR regularly monitors trend in oil prices in the global and local markets
“The RTWPB-NCR is presently studying the impact of the P10 adjustment in Metro Rail Transit [MRT] fare, as well as the possible further reduction in the fare in public-utility jeepneys, following the P1 fare reduction in the last quarter of 2014. All these adjustments and related developments will be considered by the board in making a decision on minimum-wage adjustments,” Baldoz said.
Both labor and management sectors filed separate petitions before the RTWPB-NCR due to the economic conditions and recent MRT/Light Rail Transit fare increase.
The regional wage board has scheduled consultations with labor and management sectors and other stakeholders on January 23 and 30.
“On the second week of February, the board will tentatively conduct a public hearing as part of the minimum- wage setting process. Its results will be the basis for a decision on the petitions filed by the sectors,” Baldoz said.