As the new wage-hike order increasing minimum daily pay in Metro Manila by P21 takes effect on Thursday, a labor group has called on President Duterte to augment further the income of workers by approving the proposed P500 monthly subsidy for minimum-wage earners.
In a statement, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) asked the President to approve its proposed subsidy for workers earning minimum wage. The ALU-TUCP said Duterte can source the funds from “unspent and unused budget for different government departments and agencies”.
“It is important for workers to cope with the rising cost of living and meet the basic daily food needs of workers and their families because they are essential partners of employers and capitalists to helping and sustaining the country’s economic growth at a competitive level. Yet, the wealth created remains at the top, and it’s not trickling down,” ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan A. Tanjusay said.
Tanjusay added workers badly need the subsidy, as the recent wage hike of P21 is not enough to assist them with their everyday needs. “The P21 increase will not lift workers and their families from living below poverty. This 4-percent increase is very small compared to the recent increases in prices of electricity, water, LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] used in cooking and in the price of gasoline. This increase will not definitely close the widening gap between the rich and the poor. There is no shared prosperity here,” Tanjusay said.
Wage Order 21 issued on September 14 by the Regional Wages and Tripartite Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) increases the minimum wage in Metro Manila by P21. The wage hike will put the minimum wage at P475 a day for workers in the agriculture sector and P512 a day for workers in the nonagriculture sector. Estimates by the ALU-TUCP claim that more than 5 million workers are bound to benefit from the wage hike.