- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Several representatives of labor groups based in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental said they are open to a lower-than-the-petitioned P750 new minimum wage rate across sectors in Western Visayas.
As long as there is an adjustment to the current minimum daily wage rate of P395, which took effect in 2019, representatives from the Kilusang Mayo Uno, National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines, and others said they are open to supporting the P550 salary hike proposal raised by Naniel Barros of Palawan Pawnshop during the public hearing conducted by the DOLE-Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Western Visayas in Talisay City, Negros Occidental April 8.
Barros said he understood the sentiments of both labor and management, but stressed that P750 a day “is too much”.
“Why not P500 or P550?” Barros said as he disclosed that his company has been giving each employee a starting salary of P400 a day since 2021.
The Fishta Union of Employees for Reforms through Solidarity Actions (FUERSA-Super), based in Bacolod City, filed a P355 add-on to the P395 daily minimum wage in the region last month, and the petition was considered valid in form and substance by the RTWPB 6, chaired by DOLE regional director, Atty. Sixto Rodriguez Jr., who then scheduled a series of public hearings, with Negros Occidental as the first stop.
Rodriguez said the public hearings aim to determine if the petition is timely and reasonable.
Dr. Jose Teody Cabantug, University of St. La Salle Human Resources director, said they are open to an increase of P55 in the minimum wage, or P450 a day, considering that they also need to hike the salary of the teachers.
KMU 6 secretary general Noly Rosales said they support the P750 petition, but are also considering the P550 proposal.
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino labor organizer Griderick Alila said a wage increase is long overdue, while Anthony John Demisana of the NACUSIP and agrarian reform beneficiaries said they are not demanding for too much, although he also supports the P750 across sectors salary rate.
But Frank Carbon, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry area vice president for the Visayas, said they oppose any wage increase petition “for now”.
“We are not yet out of the woods. The two-year pandemic has brought the business sector to its knees; it resulted in massive business closure, loss of jobs, loss of income. It depleted our capital and practically reduced to the minimum our customers,” added Carbon, also the chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said that 20 to 30 percent of businesses are still closed; the 70 to 80 percent that opened are operating at 50 to 60 percent capacity. “Our revenues are down by 50 percent.”
He said the situation is aggravated by Typhoon Odette in December, and the Russian-Ukraine conflict that is affecting food and fuel, as well as the soaring inflation.
“A wage hike is not the answer to our socio-economic problems. Massive job creation is,” Carbon stressed, adding that the “No to Wage Hike for Now” is also the position of the Filipino Chinese Chambers of Negros Occidental, southern, northern, and central Negros, and the business chambers of the PCCI in Region 6.
Representatives from Confed, the Adventist Medical Center Bacolod, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental, and Lopez Sugar also opposed the wage hike petition.
They said that timing and affordability should be taken into consideration; this is not the right time for a wage increase./CGC
