THE regional wage board in the National Capital Region (NCR) will finally start tackling its two pending wage petitions this month.
The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-NCR (RTWPB-NCR) made the decision due to the upcoming anniversary of its Wage Order No NCR-23 on June 4, 2022.
The wage order raised the existing minimum wage rate in Metro Manila to P533 to P570 from P500 to P537.
“It is part of the agenda of our Board meeting this May,” RTWPB-NCR chairperson Sarah S. Mirasol told reporters in an ambush interview during the 121st Labor Day Celebration of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday.
However, she stressed that initiating the evaluation process does not immediately mean the RTWPB-NCR will grant the petitions.
“We will follow the process for that,” Mirasol said.
Under the Omnibus Rules on Minimum Wage Determination issued in 2020, the RTWPBs are only allowed to issue wage orders within a period of 12 months from effectivity of the current Order, except if there are “reasonable grounds” for it.
It also enabled the RTWPBs to conduct public hearings 60 days prior to the anniversary date to the current wage order.
Currently, the two pending wage petitions filed at the RTWPB-NCR are from the Kapatiran ng mga Unyon at Samahang Manggagawa (Kapatiran) and the Unity for Wage Increase Now! (U4WIN).
Kapatiran filed its petition last December 5 seeking to raise the minimum wage rate in NCR by a P100 wage hike.
Meanwhile, U4WIN wants to raise the existing minimum wage in Metro Manila to P1,141 through the petition it filed last March 21.
Labor groups have been pushing for the immediate pay hike nationwide amid persisting high inflation since the last quarter of last year.